Speech after long silence

Unconscionable! I’ve gone—what?—three days without blogging. That’s mostly because I had little to talk about. I pretty much am spending quiet days reading, writing a few guest blogs to promote my September 20 release, Contract for Chaos—the eighth Kelly O’Connell Mystery, if you can believe that.

My mind is so much occupied with the perilous situation of our country and what I see as the horrors of the current administration that there’s not a lot of room for much else. But I don’t want to continually blog about what a monster our current leader is. I tend to be of the school of thought that if the media would ignore him, particularly his hate-filled rallies, it would be the best revenge. He thrives on the attention, even as he rails about the fake media. But he does seem to absorb all the air in the room, the country, perhaps the universe, and letting him do that only encourages him. So no, I don’t want to blog about trump, although I wring my hands about what irreversible damage he’s doing to the environment.

Sometimes I think other countries get it so much better than we do. Two instances have come to my attention. In Portugal, they use a huge herd of wild goats to prevent wildfires. The goats eat the dry brush by which fires leap from tree to tree, so if the goats eat that brush, fires do not spread nearly as rapidly. And there’s less repellent dropped from the sky, therefore less long-term damage to the environment and the populace, less danger to firefighters, and less expense.

In several countries, wild ducks are used to control weeds in the rice fields. The ducks eat not only the weeds but their seed and do not touch the rice—hmmm, wonder who taught them to be so discriminating?

Looking for reading? I just ordered a book today called Hope Never Dies. No, it’s not a political polemic—it’s a mystery, featuring those two intrepid sleuths, Joe Biden and his sidekick, Barrack. One review described it as part dark thriller, part wonderful bromance. Certainly, memes of those two have been all over the internet and this brings their relationship to another level. Some in my writers group wondered about the wisdom of fictionalizing living characters, and I wonder about the effect if Biden does run for president. I hear on the net that he’s a popular choice, with high poll numbers, and that he’s seriously considering it. I don’t suppose a little-known mystery series would have much effect on a well-run campaign, but one never knows. Somebody said the book helps his image, but I think he already has a pretty good “Uncle Joe” image. Maybe a longer report after I’ve read it.

Right now, I’m reading S’More Murder, one of Maya Corrigan’s five ingredients mysteries. Imagine being a caterer and being asked to duplicate the last dinner on the Titanic for eight people on the client’s yacht. Naturally, murder ensues.

I’m still not quite back up to snuff. Perhaps turning eighty had more effect on me than I thought. But I will try to be more faithful about blogging and about finding interesting topics. Peace and sweet dreams, my friends