Guaranteed Covid Depression Cure

 I was in the supermarket parking lot and saw one of the employees come out and begin gathering the shopping carts. She was clearly depressed, stooped, bundled up against winter cold, walking with no energy. She looked like it would take a miracle for her not to turn in her resignation in the next five minutes.

She saw a wayward cart over at the far edge of the parking lot and began trudging her way over toward it.

There was a man with a German Shepherd on a very long leash. The dog saw the woman and pulled toward her. The woman saw the dog and veered toward it. The dog and woman met and touched, then hugged, then romped. It took about 60 seconds for the complete transformation.

The woman became joyous and light on her feet. She smiled and gestured, hugged the dog some more. She did a pirouette in her snow boots. She attempted to move away to get the cart, then turned back and went back to the shepherd for another dog fix of love and happiness.

Eventually, she succeeded in separating herself from the dog. As she came a good distance from the dog, she came near me. I couldn't help noticing that the sad woman was now happy. Instead of frowning, she was grinning to herself. She turned for a moment and glanced back at the dog. When she turned back to the cart she was smiling even more. 

It was a profound example of what dogs do for people. A strange dog transformed this woman's life. Maybe for five minutes, maybe for five hours, maybe for five days.

Quiz - Lake Tahoe Volume Compared To Other Lakes

 If you look at lakes on the map of the United States, you'll see five big ones stand out. The five Great Lakes are big by any measure.  Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario, and Erie. In addition to surface area, those are the five biggest U.S. lakes by volume as well.

So what lake comes in at number six by volume? A glance at the map shows dozens of possibilities. You know the answer of course, because you're reading my blog.

Lake Tahoe isn't huge by surface area. But it is DEEP, the 10th deepest freshwater lake in the world. And it is the second highest big lake in the world.

As for volume, Tahoe contains 36 cubic miles of water. Nothing compared to Superior. But it's kind of amazing to look at the U.S. map and realize that after the five Great Lakes, Tahoe has more water than any other lake in the U.S.! 

Saint Valentine

 Ever wonder where all this lovey dovey Valentine celebration stuff came from?

There are several competing stories, most involving men named Valentine. One of the more likely seems to be about a clergyman named Valentinus. who lived in Rome back in the third century. Christians weren't very popular back then. But Valentine was supposedly nice to them. And he even performed marriage ceremonies for Christians, or so the story goes. (Medieval stories are notorious for being just that. Stories.)

But the whole marriage-of-Christians concept had the kind of nice ring to it that allowed the story to flourish. Anyway, for whatever reason, the Romans in charge sentenced him to death for his crimes, and he was beheaded on Feb 14, 270. Centuries later he was made a saint.

The idea of celebrating Valentinus's death with symbols of love didn't take hold right away. By some accounts it wasn't until the Italian Renaissance in the 14th or 15th centuries that people started celebrating love. (It took over one thousand years for love to take hold in the popular culture!)

In the meantime, it's always a good idea to do something sweet for your love, whether on Valentinus's birthday or not.

What Does That Character Look Like?!

My wife is doing the first of four edits on my new book. In it, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Bains is featured, and what he looks like is described. My wife said, "I don't remember reading what Bains looked like in past books." 

"That's because I don't think I've ever described him before," I said. (If I have, I forgot about it, and I'll get emails from people telling me I got him wrong!)

When writers begin writing novels, we often assume we have to say what all the characters look like. But it isn't necessary.

The first book in the Owen McKenna series was the fifth novel I'd written (those books are unpublished). 

Owen McKenna's sidekick Spot

I'd described a lot of characters by the time I began Owen McKenna. With this new series, I decided I wouldn't describe what McKenna looks like other than to say he's 6' 6" and weighs 215. And, just once, Glennie, the reporter, refers to his blue eyes.

But mugshot stuff? Nada. Nothing  about his looks.

There's no rule about this. If you want, you can describe a character down to the hair on their knuckles.

What happens when you don't describe characters? Readers fill it in. I can't count the number of times readers have referred to McKenna's looks. When I say that I never described them, they tell me I'm wrong. They know I'm wrong because they know exactly what McKenna looks like. Which is, apparently, proof that I've thoroughly described him!

Same for Sergeant Diamond Martinez of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. All we know about him is that he's got brown skin (he's a Mexican immigrant). Yet readers seem to know exactly what he looks like as well. They even think he's handsome. I know this because I've gotten quite a few emails from women proposing marriage to Diamond. (I know - I didn't see that coming.) In their surprisingly earnest proposals, they make it clear he's an attractive guy.

Incidentally, I do describe other characters like Street Casey and FBI Agent Ramos and of course Spot, and many many bit characters. 

Stay tuned... The next McKenna (#19) is due out this coming August. You'll know what Sergeant Bains looks like then!