Meat, Pasta, And John Lee

After taking a few days off with the publication of Big Lake Parolee, I decided I’d better get in gear and start making myself useful before Miss Terry kicks me to the curb. Over the weekend and on Monday, I was working on my next book, Debt Collector, which will be the 14th book in the John Lee Quarrels mystery series about a small town deputy in north Florida. The story starts off with a terrible crime on the other side of the country, and things only get worse from there.

Terry is keeping me well fed so I can’t slack off and pretend it’s because of starvation. The other day, she made tortellini with homemade sauce and meatballs for dinner. It’s another one of my favorite meals. Of course, with Terry’s amazing cooking, everything is a favorite meal.

Speaking of food, yesterday after going to the post office to mail out a book order and stopping at Safeway for some items, we stopped at the Arizona Meat Company, a new store that recently opened on the Deuce of Clubs Avenue in Show Low. It’s a small place but part of a family business with shops in several locations around the state. The prices were obviously more than you would pay at a regular grocery store, but the quality of the meat was far superior. We brought some goodies home that I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into.

The weather front that brought snow and cold temperatures to our area has moved, on and yesterday it was in the low 40s. The weatherman says we can expect temperatures in the 50s for at least the next week or so. Most of the inch or two of snow we got has already melted off. There’s no denying that the weather is changing and global warming is a fact. When I first moved to the White Mountains 35 years ago, we would have major snowstorms. I remember when so much came down that they had no place to put it. Snow would be piled in the middle turn lanes of the main street in Show Low and dump trucks deposited mountains of snow in shopping center parking lots, just to get the streets passable. These days, a 6-inch snowfall is almost unheard of. And it seems like down in the Phoenix area, they are breaking records nearly every day for high temperatures. Where will it end?

Did you know that you can find all of my books and sign up for my free author’s newsletter on my website at www.nickrussellbooks.com?

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. I’m not sure if this sign is in the office of a veterinarian or the lobby of the IRS. It could go either way.

Thought For The Day – It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one’s neighbor.