Grandpa to the Second Power

Claire Woodard (left) and her husband, John Pemberton, both holding their son, Henry Pemberton. | Credit: Courtesy

Our Senior Arts Writer Josef Woodard is a grandpa again! What was it like this time around? Claire and her husband, John Pemberton, were given an arrival date of August 23, and Henry Abrahm Pemberton showed up only a bit fashionably late, at 5:03 a.m. on August 24. Everything went smoothly for all involved. Henry has a bit of a boxer’s nose from the delivery process and long, elegant fingers, maybe a boxer/violinist in training. He weighed in at 8 lb., 3 oz.

This is our second grandchild, after our son Sam’s now 4-year-old James, but the first time into motherhood for Claire. From our grandparental vantage, it’s no less exciting than the first — that common yet always miraculous moment when the baby decides to embark on life in the outside world.

Claire has a deep history in Santa Barbara, having grown up here and having done a bit of writing for the Independent — including a review of Zach Galifianakis’s Baskets. She got her English degree at Stanford, is a published poet, and worked a few jobs in the tech industry in San Francisco before spending a couple of happy years as a farmer in Pescadero.

Now, she is plunging headlong into life as a mother. For the moment, it’s all about Henry.