Happy St. Patrick’s Day

The day when everyone in America becomes Irish Catholic. I’m thinking that surely the day will come when we have a holiday on which everyone in America becomes Iraqi Muslim for a day. We could be sober, eat Halal foods, and spend the day looking over our shoulders for white supremacist assassins. My dress code today is not green, but black.

I saw one of those ‘stupid memes’ on Facebook. But in the wake of murders committed by white supremacists now taking hold around the world I found this to be an interesting take.

How odd that even supporters of the current administration recognize that in the world’s eyes we’ve allowed ‘being American’ to be equated with being racist. Instead of standing up to stop American racism, we are told to be bold in claiming it.

In case you were wondering, I've grown a philosopher's beard, so I can wax eloquent on this subject. And any other.

That brings me, logically enough, to my writing adventure. Doesn’t everything? I completed the ‘final’ draft of Wild Woods last week and sent it off to four proofreaders. I am so thankful for these people who have volunteered their time to help make my book stronger and error-free. The first of the proofreaders has already responded with well over 100 errors spotted. No matter how careful an author, even reading aloud, we see what should be there rather than what is there. A lot like life.

Reading comments from the story editors and integrating them into the story brought home a couple of points that I’d written but hadn’t yet absorbed into my life. Sometimes I write things and later it’s like “Why didn’t I think of that?” Dummy. The key element that I took away from rereading Wild Woods was this.

I’ve long believed that our purpose on earth is to make the world a better place than we found it. I have admired people who stood up and made a difference, whether that was politically, religiously, socially, scientifically, or educationally. Any other ‘ally’s you want to put in there. These are people who made a difference. So why isn’t the world a wonderful happy place and getting better each day?

What could make the world a better place than watching the Mariners beat the Diamondbacks in spring training??? I think they won. We were ahead 6-3 when I left after the second hot dog.

Well, Gee’s revelation in Wild Woods is that what makes a good world is good people. And therefore, if what you do, say, or post doesn’t make you a better person, it doesn’t make the world a better place. And then I think of how many religious, social, political, scientific, and educational developments were made by people who weren’t good. We had no ‘good people’ running for high office in 2016. We had few if any good people running in 2018. I’m not sure we have any lined up for 2020.

I’ve heard lots of people—in individual conversation and in public forums—declare their anger, resistance, beliefs, grief, and commitments. They do so under the banner of free speech. “I should be able to say whatever I want to.” But I look at memes like the one above and think, “If I repost this, will it make me a better person?” For Gee the issue was much bigger, of course, because he’s the main character in a 120,000-word novel.

Wild Woods will be released June 23, 2019. Watch for news and information on the party location!

For me, it is often just, “If I say this and just rip this SOB to shreds for his stupidity, will it make me a better person?” I’m learning (slowly) to shut up.

I don't even start my truck more than once a week and that is usually to go to the post office or to get propane or groceries. I lead a quiet and almost reclusive life.

One of the places Q and I missed when she visited in December was the Blythe Intaglios, giant figures etched in the desert floor by unknown people hundreds of years ago. Friday, I decided to take a little trip up to Parker, AZ for groceries and then cross the Colorado River into California and go see the giant figures.

I’d driven past this site a few years ago and never even noticed it was there. The big roadside marker that is supposed to indicate a historic site has been damaged and never repaired.

What I found was a lonely stretch of dirt road through the desert that led to some impressive sites. Geoglyphs are a rare cultural resource that occur in different countries, including Peru, Chile, England, and Australia. This is the only site of its kind in the US.

These are not down in canyons where you can look over the edge and see the whole thing from above and I’m not rich enough to hire a helicopter to fly me over them. But walking around this 103' long figure of a human was impressive. And fortunately, there were still signs that help identify them.

I saw half a dozen of these giant figures during my visit to a wild and barren land. But the weather the past few weeks has been uncommonly wet and rainy. As a result, it is in bloom wherever you go, including near the intaglios.

I made my way back home, filled with curiosity about the people who had come before and wondered what they had done to make the world a better place. And did they succeed?

Now here is good news for fans of my cyber mysteries, For Money or Mayhem and For Blood or Money. Both of you! I’m in the process of rewriting a sequel to the latter that picks up just before the final chapter of For Blood or Money. Just before? Municipal Blondes continues the story from the perspective of Dag’s partner, Deb Riley. She’s in trouble almost from the beginning as she attempts to unravel the clues that Dag has left as she investigates the strange goings-on at the Condo and with Dag’s ex-wife, the Muffin-Top.

I’ll be releasing Municipal Blondes later this summer. The writing never ends! Perhaps something I say or do will make me a better person.

You can support the effort by subscribing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=11237246. My patrons get to read all my books before they are released to the public!