_ - Happy news for Neil Peart & Carrie Nuttall

Happy news for Neil Peart & Carrie Nuttall

27th-Jun-2009 07:45 pm [alex lifeson, carrie nuttall, geddy lee, neil peart, rush]

Image by alforque via Flickr

I just learned (and confirmed in the News section of Neil Peart's Official Website) that his wife Carrie is 7 months pregnant! I am so happy for them - especially for Neil.

Neil (the drummer for Rush) has never been one give to big showy announcements, so it's no surprise he'd drop this in the middle of an essay. The piece uses a weather phenomenon called the "marine layer" as a metaphor for many things in life. He explains the layer like this:

The graceful dolphins and calm water are textured by the misty gray air over the ocean that morning—the true “marine layer.” The term is often heard in Southern California weather reports, and refers to a “sandwich” of cool, moist air above the cold water, held down by a warmer layer above it. Despite Southern California’s stereotype of sun, sand, surf and Endless Summer, the water along the California coast flows south from the cold Northern Pacific, and can be up to thirty degrees colder than the same latitude on the Atlantic shore, warmed by the Gulf Stream. Over land, the marine layer phenomenon becomes a “thermal inversion,” a stagnant weather pattern that presses down a smoggy bubble over unlucky valleys like the Los Angeles Basin or Mexico City.

Along the coast, though, the marine layer is fresh ocean air, but it can linger for days, even weeks. Some residents disparage this weather pattern, calling it “May Gray” or “June Gloom,” and they pine for the California sun to emerge in all its glory. Others among us are grateful for the relief offered by that marine layer. The misty air attenuates the heat that can become oppressive in late summer and fall, yet the thin overcast is not like the dark and gloomy fogs of, say, the Pacific Northwest. With no heavy clouds above, sunlight permeates the marine layer with a soft, pearly glow that often remains bright enough to make you squint and reach for your sunglasses.

Then, a little over halfway down the page, he writes:

At the same time, under that same marine layer, my wife Carrie was seven months pregnant. [Pause for sharp intake of breath and shiver of apprehension.] Our baby was growing and kicking, protected and insulated in its own oceanic fluid, its own marine layer. The anxious (not to say terrified) father kind of wished the baby could stay there, safe from harm, and not have to embark upon a life of menace and potential tragedy. He had lost before, and probably couldn’t stand to lose again. People kept saying it was going to be all right, and he tried to keep telling himself that. Even in the June Gloom.

For any who don't know, in the August 1997, Neil's 19-year-old daughter, Selena Taylor, was killed in a car wreck on as she was leaving home to start college. The following June, Jackie Taylor, his common-law wife of 22 years, also died - technically from cancer, but Neil has always said that she died of a broken heart; that after their daughter died, she just didn't have the will to go on. His bandmates, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson, decided that the only thing that mattered at that point was to see that Neil got through the double tragedy (which was only made worse when, a few weeks after Neil began a cross-country motorcycle trip that wound up helping heal him tremendously, he learned that his family's dog had also passed away.) If Neil had never come to them to say he wanted to start recording again, the band Rush would have ended there. During that motorcycle trip, Neil met photographer Carrie Nuttall and in September of 2000 they were married.

Around that same time, Neil contacted Alex and Geddy, saying he was ready to get back to work, and the band has released 2 albums of new material since then (2002's "Vapor Trails" and 2007's "Snakes & Arrows,") an EP of their cover versions of the songs that initially inspired them when they were young (2004's "Feedback,") have done 3 tours - including 2 full legs for last year's "Snakes & Arrows" tour, played their first shows in Europe in over a decade, played for the first time ever in South America, released 3 concert DVDs ("Rush in Rio" from their "Vapor Trails" tour, "R30" from their 30th anniversary tour and "Snake & Arrows" from the tour of the same name,) done their first American TV show (The Colbert Report) in 30 years and made a cameo apperance in the recent movie "I Love You Man."

So, yeah, I'm really, really happy for Neil and Carrie - though I have to say, I find it quite hilarious that his son or daughter will be a few years younger than Alex's grandson. But, given the bands reputation for having a great sense of humour, here's hoping they'll have many more years to enjoy quite a few laughs about that!

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