Happy Birthday, Valerie. Today my niece is 24 and is still very, very cute. She has just graduated from UVic and will return to her new job in Victoria next week, but is here for the holidays and we therefore enjoyed celebrating her lovely day with her. I made dinner for the gang, including carrot cake and mocha cheesecake, at Val's request, for dessert.

Today I recommend a book. My sister-in-law, Joanne, is great at finding books...and she gave me, last weekend, Naomi Wolf's stories of her father, Leonard. It's a lovely read. The Tree House: Eccentric Wisdom from my Father on How to Live, Love, and See. Serendipity always seems to bring the right book at the right time, and this one is no exception. It is a book of the soul of poetry, and the power of symbol and image, and healing. All of these. Lovely prose, and some pieces of poetry which are a delight to rediscover. Somehow I manage to continue to read, amidst the good times of lots of company.