From the Scriptorium: Wednesday, January 11

Right now, in the City of La Crosse, people are playing golf on the local courses. There is no snow, temps in the 50's and the greens are still playable. I must admit, the thought of no snow in Wisconsin as we approach mid-January is rather curious. Is it La Nina? Is it El Nino? Is it some cosmic shift in global warming? Naah, it's just Red Dwarf coming out of orbit.

This is what I picture. A crackling fire, a glass of wine or perhaps a brandy. A cat cuddling by the foot of my chair on the afghan I just finished. Or just sitting by the window watching the snow falling gently on our yard. HA - none of those wistful pleasures to be certain. No fireplace and no cat. And NO SNOW. This is the craziest winter I have seen in ages. Who doesn't have snow in the middle of January in Wisconsin?

Addendum: The following day, we received over 5" of snow. Right now temps are in the low teens and the golfing range has closed for the season. The Mt. La Crosse Ski Slopes are open for business and now don't have to make snow. Winter finally made it to Wisconsin...January 12, 2012.

I'm excited about the football playoff games. I can't wait to watch Clay Matthews - No 52 on the right, make his titanic tackles and glamourous takeaways, then do his victory dance to the delight of all the fans in Lambeau Field. I get positively rowdy watching these men in green and gold. Naturally I wear my own ensemble of green and gold with custom made necklace and earrings for the support of my team. I've even thought about making my popcorn green and gold but that might be difficult. I must be content with the traditional stuff and being a dedicated fan in Packer Nation. For Greg, Donald, Clay, BJ, TJ, and my other Facebook and Twitter pals, you can count on me to be cheering in front of my little television and raising the roof - so to speak.

I am working on my historical novel, which involves the gentleman on my left - John Paul Jones, the first Commodore of the US Navy. His flagship, the Bonhomme Richard features prominently in this historical drama about a series of murders committed in 1779 in Whitby, England. However, his is not the only Bonhomme Richard IN this book. The Bon Homme Richard of World War II and our current ship, Bonhomme Richard are also featured in the book. A sailor from each must come through a vortex to use the skills from each century to solve these murders. Sound intriguing? Ah ha...this is the best one I've written yet. "The Marlinspike Murders" should be ready for publication at the end of this year (2012), hopefully in both ebook and traditional paperback formats.

I understand Tesco wants to build a new store on the west side of Holmfirth, close to the setting for "Last of the Summer Wine" television series. They tried to get planning permission once before and failed, because a store such as Tesco should be placed downtown for shoppers to come to the town centre - not to the fringes of it. And understandably, one would not want to spoil such a pastoral setting with a store and traffic. I suppose if the store is placed in an area which doesn't impede traffic and doesn't spoil the countryside views, it might be okay. Tesco has offered to set up bus service to and from town centre so people can shop in both locations, but being the purest I am, I'm not certain that would fly with Holmfirth residents. We shall see. I wonder what Nora, Compo, Clegg and Foggy would think of a Tesco store over by Compo's Cafe? Would there be a place for Howard and Marina to ride their bicycles away from prying eyes? Goodness, the shock of it all!!