I just had to go run some more errands (because I keep forgetting things today), which included running into Walgreens for the kid’s allergy meds. I was about halfway across the parking lot when a big white pickup caught my eye. On the access door, in big letters, it said “K-9 UNIT”. The truck didn’t look like the usual NH law enforcement vehicle, so I read the driver’s door and it said “US Coast Guard Auxiliary”.
That made the wheels start turning in my head, because I’d never heard of that. What does the US Coast Guard Auxiliary do? And why a K-9 unit? Is it a drug-sniffing dog for boat searches? A search and rescue dog? I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that in a romance. Drug-sniffing doesn’t do much for me, but if they’re a search and rescue team, that would be original and cool. I wonder if they do inland work or if they’re used along the coastline for suspected riptide victims…
A car horn took about five years off my life and, when I turned around, there was a line of cars waiting to get by me. I’d stopped right in the middle of the parking lot, staring at the truck.
Maybe writers should come with orange safety vests.
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Glad you are okay.At least it was the parking lot and not the actual road.
I know the Coast Guard has some explosive sniffing dogs. Not sure about drug sniffing.
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Since they are involved in preventing drug smuggling I bet that it could be a drug sniffing dog. I was a huge fan of Walt Morey books when I was a kid and he had one about a USCG dog called “The Lemon Meringue Dog” that I particularly liked. Morey wrote great animal books.
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Oh that’s awesome–the birth of a ‘what if..’ indeed!
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I can see that phone call now…
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a woman standing in the middle of the road with a dazed and confused look on her face.”
“Oh, that’s Shan. Just beep and she’ll move.”
SK might like the Lemon Meringue Dog. I’ll have to see if the library has it.
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LOL on the orange vests. Someone to take us by the arm and move us along might be a good idea. Then they can also snap us out of it when we pass our exit because we’re drafting the next scene, and take dictation when we’re in the shower.
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Love it! I love seeing into the mind of a writer. My only thought would have been to thank them for their service if I saw them!
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This older blog post is one of my favorite looks inside my whacky head.
https://shannonstacey.com/2009/08/inside-the-slightly-whacked-mind-of-a-writer/
And I didn’t see the driver. Probably sitting in the truck freaked out by a woman staring at his truck.