Best Wishes for a Joyful Yule - Larry Edwards

Gleðileg Jól
Happy Holidaze!

Larry the S.O.B looking for a Golden Eagle. (Turn around, you dolt!)
Janis under the whale-bone arch in Stanley, Falkland Islands, bound for Antarctica.

We welcome a new year.
A new beginning, new opportunities.
Wishing you health, happiness, and harmony.

♩ ♫ ♩ ♫ ♩ ♫ ♩

Larry and Janis

2022 Highlights

• Bird World

Janis, after postponements in 2020 and 2021, finally made it to Antarctica. Her favorite birds, naturally, were the penguins, the Chinstrap in particular, which greeted her with a wide, anthropomorphic grin. She saw seven other penguin species as well, some floating past her ship on icebergs, waving their little wings. Luckily, her ship evaded the rogue waves. (Photos courtesy of her roommate, Frances Oliver.)

Larry, the S.O.B. (as in Spouse of Birder) stayed home (fortunately, since the water heater sprang a leak) and among other birds, great and small, got nice looks at Golden Eagles, which more often than not are tiny specks high in the sky.

He also hit a milestone of sorts this week. He nabbed his 400th bird for San Diego County, the tiny and rare (for San Diego) Black-throated Green Warbler. Janis has been trying to get Larry to 400 all year. Made it with a few days to spare. (Of course, she's well beyond 400.)

As a bonus, got great looks at a Lewis's Woodpecker, another San Diego rarity.

Larry's best (and luckiest) bird sighting of the year arrived in the form of a Solitary Sandpiper in Tecolote Canyon. The bird is a rarity in San Diego and had not been reported previously in the canyon.

Larry said, "This will likely be my one and only discovery of a rare bird. Still, not bad for an S.O.B."

To which one guy looked him over, taking note of the binoculars, 400mm camera lens, and spotting scope, and retorted, "Larry, you sure look like a birder to me."

→ Book / Writing News:

Still editing books. Those published this year include these delightful reads:

The Sphynx Murder Case — A. J. Hawke Legal Thriller by Donald E. McInnis
The Sphynx Murder Case by Donald E. McInnis is a legal thriller that infuses the intrigue of ongoing investigations and local [San Diego, California] politics with the suspense of courtroom proceedings. It draws readers in with covered-up corruption and more than one ongoing case to solve. Lawyer A. J. Hawke is clever and crafty in the courtroom [as he exposes] police interrogation tactics.
—Publisher’s Weekly Booklife Report
Return of the Sphynx A. J. Hawke Legal Thriller by Donald E. McInnis
The San Diego police have arrested a young man for the so-called Sphynx rapes. But is the suspect the real Sphynx rapist? A. J. Hawke introduces the existence of a rare genetic trait to defend his client.
Editor’s Pick: Publisher’s Weekly Booklife Reviews: Nail-biting legal thriller. . . . Great for fans of Scott Turow and Phillip Margolin.

DonaldMcInnis.com

Upriver (fiction, thriller)
Award-winning novelist Martin Roy Hill's latest work. NCIS Special Agent Linus Schag is sent to Iraq to take custody of two Navy SEALs suspected of murder. He finds himself thrust into a manmade inferno as a coalition of forces fight to free northern Iraq from the Islamic extremist group called ISIS.

Nell: Marshal of Bodie by John Edward Mullen (historical fiction)
In the winter of 1892, the once-vibrant gold-mining town of Bodie, California, is in serious decline. Nell Doherty, an 18-year-old woman with a wooden leg, dreams of leaving and becoming a Pinkerton detective. When a tragic shooting presents her with an opportunity to prove she has the skills needed to work for the Pinkertons, Bodie’s justice of the peace deputizes Nell — over the loud objections of the majority of the town’s residents. Can she prove them all wrong?

→ Music Arena: Another year of not much fiddling around, but got together occasionally with fellow musicians for small jam sessions. The best bit being a guest appearance on Patt & Possum's Big Fiddle Show, livestreamed most Fridays on YouTube.

Jerry Schreiber (guitar), Kim Spalding (fiddle), yours truly (fiddle), and Charlie Van Tassel (banjo), playing Snake River Reel. Big Fiddle Show No. 130, Sept. 16, 2022, min: 16:32

In addition, Larry's composition, Manitoulin Thunder, was included in The Cascadia Book of Fiddle Tunes, released January 22 at the Bellingham Folk Festival in Bellingham, Washington.