Sure, It's Toasty, But Look At The Temps In The Valley

 As Tahoe approaches 90, locals get bent out of shape. Yes, we can always jump in the icy lake. But still... 90 degrees?!

But it's good to remember why thousands of tourists are streaming into Tahoe. It's always 10 or 15 degrees hotter "down there." Maybe even more.

I guess we can't complain.

Come up the mountain, and you won't complain, either.

Back From The (Pandemic) Brink

 The world is slowly getting back to normal. Yay. Book events are coming back as well. The South Lake Tahoe library scheduled me to talk about my new book, Tahoe Jade, on Tuesday August 10 at 6 p.m. As in the past, it will probably be smart to arrive early (5:30?) to get books signed. My talk and Q & A will begin a little after 6.

South Lake Tahoe library audience.

Is this an interesting reading? Or am I droning on and on...?

I've also scheduled several festivals, Harvest Festivals in San Mateo and Sacramento, and the Mountain View Art and Wine Festival. The Candy Dance is pending. Judging from interest, I'll have several bookstore events as well.

I'll post more about my events as they take shape.

Little Free Library

 For writers, libraries are sacred. A really cool development in the world of libraries is "The Little Free Library," an attractive neighborhood display where you can help yourself to a book at no charge and with no obligation. You can also donate a book for others to enjoy. There are no rules and no requirements.

Little Free Libraries are put up by volunteers everywhere. There are now over 100,000 Little Free Libraries around the world.

There are a dozen Little Free Libraries on Tahoe's South Shore, and also two on the North Shore.

If you'd like to find locations or learn about how to put up one of these great attractions in your own neighborhood, visit the website: 

https://littlefreelibrary.org/

Enjoy!

Dogs Can Smell Covid... Of Course

 We all know that dogs can smell pretty much anything, no matter how elusive or faint. Woe to the bad guy who is trying to smuggle drugs or explosives and finds that the cops or TSA people have a trained dog.

We've also learned that dogs can sniff out all kinds of cancer, diabetes, malaria, some types of Parkinsons. They can sense an impending epileptic seizure. The list goes on. 

Now a group of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania is training dogs to identify people with covid.

The Munsterlander is particularly good at smelling covid. Here's an article in National Geographic about how they train the dogs to find covid.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/see-dogs-trained-to-sniff-covid

Once again, our favorite pets have astonishing abilities that no machine or robot can touch.