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Yuletide Greetings
We wish you a Merry Holiday Season . . .
. . . and a Joyous, Super Happy, and Birdy New Year.
Whoo-hoooo . . . Whoo-hoooo
Larry and Janis
2024 Highlights
My highlight of the year came on October 11, when I finally released my latest book (and first novel), Chariot Canyon: A Rent Beacham Mystery through Wigeon Publishing.
When journalist Rent Beacham looks into reports of welfare fraud, he has no clue his investigation not only will take him into a remote, semi-lawless area of San Diego County, but that a twist of fate will give his probe a more personal — and deadly — nature than he ever imagined.
Award-winning mystery writer Martin Roy Hill gives it 5 stars and says: "A heck of a roller-coaster ride." (scroll down) The prolific Mr. Hill has a new book coming out next year, No Hill to Die On: Peter Brandt Mysteries #4 (which I recently edited).
Others have also complimented Chariot Canyon, with one reader comparing it favorably to mystery novels by G.M. Ford.
(I was fortunate enough to become friends with Mr. Ford after he moved from Seattle to San Diego. Coincidentally, he taught creative writing at my alma mater, Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, although after I had graduated.)
You can find Chariot Canyon at Amazon and other retail outlets. Formats include hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and all other major ebook platforms. If you get the book, please participate in the Virtual Fiddle Contest and/or the Virtual Literary Contest: Entry deadline extended to midnight, January 31, 2024.
• More Books
As an editor, I also got involved in a few other book projects this year, including:
Photo: Yours truly with M.L. Meurs (a.k.a. Granny), presenting our books at the San Diego Writers & Editors Guild author showcase event.
And I give a shout-out to Timothy W. Brittain for creating the covers for Chariot Canyon, Camp Salvador, and Cops Gone Bad.
• Travel
Janis and I returned to Mountain View, Arkansas, for the annual folk festival in April, where we met up with a number of our music friends, including Richard and Christie Chance (North Carolina) as well as Kirk Hunter and Jim Cadorette (Texas), and Dave and Maria Smith (Arkansas). We stayed at the Wildflower B&B (formerly the hotel) . . .
. . . and jammed on the front porch.
Above: the Big Jam
Right: Yours truly, Richard Chance, and Kirk Hunter.
Stone County being a dry county, we made a stop at a liquor store (a nondescript warehouse nearly the size of a Walmart) in, of all places, Birdland, just shy of the county line.
Note: Street Corn being served at an eatery does not mean corn licker.
Of course, we watched the parade. Always good fun as the entire community turns out.
On our way to Mountain View, Janis and I spent a few days at Hot Springs, Arkansas, and toured the national park — along with birding, of course. I even got a few lifers, among them the Fish Crow, Black Vulture, and Pileated Woodpecker. (Alas, no photos — I left the big lens at home.)
The original hot spring grotto. Janis and Larry lunching and munching on bratwurst, washed down with oatmeal stout, at the Superior Bathhouse Brewery.
Stained glass ceiling in the bathhouse.
Mural of a Native American. As the original human inhabitants of the area, the Native Americans traveled long distances to gather at the hot springs and partake of the refreshing — some say healing — waters.
The timing of our trip worked perfectly: Janis had been on a birding trip to Texas that included seeing the total eclipse. She says the birds went quiet as darkness fell, then resumed singing as daylight returned.
I joined her in Dallas before continuing on to "The Natural State" (i.e., Arkansas).
Earlier, Janis had been to Peru, birding by boat on the upper reaches of the Amazon River, and in October, she and her friend Lei Lei visited the Balkans and the Baltics: Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia (and her luggage had an unscheduled stopover in Croatia), followed by Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. This brought Janis within reach of her goal to visit 100 countries and join the Century Club. She will pass that mark on her upcoming trip in the New Year. And she will likely get more life birds as well.
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Music
Not fiddling as much as I would like, although I get together most Fridays with Jerry Schrieber (guitar), Charlie VanTassel (banjo), and Steve Green (mandolin). We have good fun cranking out old-time (and some not-so-old-time) fiddle tunes. Among our (or should I say "my"?) current favorites are Tipping Back the Corn, Sailing Over England, Flat on the Frog, Old Bob, and Granny Does Your Dog Bite.
On a sad note, two of our long-time nusic friends died recently: Adrienne Jacoby and Dr. Ivan Harwood, both fellow bass players. Adrienne, an awesome music teacher with a big heart, brightened every room she entered. Ivan (pictured), a member of our now dwindling F Group, played bass and banjo and brought smiles to our faces with his quirky sense of humor. He had dedicated his life to working with kids afflicted with cystic fibrosis. I will play Manitoulin Thunder in his honor, a tune I composed during a terrific thunderstorm while visiting him at his summer home on Manitoulin Island in Canada and which I dedicated to him.
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Birds
Some of my favorite birds this year . . . and a couple of other critters as well . . .
All of these photos copyright Larry M. Edwards.
California Gnatcatcher / Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Burrowing Owl / Great Blue Heron
Eurasian Wigeon, the namesake of Wigeon Publishing
Cooper's Hawk (immature) / Acorn Woodpecker feeding young
Tricolored Heron / Snow Goose — both rare in San Diego
Reddish Egret — becoming more common in San Diego
California Thrasher / Marsh Wren
Mountain Bluebird
Food fight: Ferruginous Hawk with a meal . . . until this Golden Eagle swooped in and stole it . . . and the marauding Red-tailed Hawk, also intent on getting a piece of the action, slammed on the brakes when the eagle warned it off.
Yellow-breasted Chat / Coyote skulking in the tall weeds
Rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail in Tecolote Canyon
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* Featured owls photo at top: A pair of juvenile Great-horned Owls in San Diego's Tecolote Canyon, Larry M. Edwards, May 25, 2024.
Related Links
• Winter Solstice — Shortest Day of the Year (northern hemisphere)
• Winter Solstice Traditions: Rituals for a Simple Celebration
• LarryEdwards.com
• Larry's Facebook Page
• Larry's Youtube Channel
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