My shortcut through our community college, revealed 6 people standing on the baseball field 10 feet apart. They flew drones to the outfield, then back. This was a class in Wilderness Firefighting.  Here in Oregon, aerial surveillance can be a safer way to view a burning landscape.

It seems Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)  are infiltrating jobs done by dogs, horses, men, and heavy equipment. I hooted at what my crochety family would yap about using drones to work on the farm and ranch.
And…a story was born.  Actually, an entire novel,. Hardly Any Shooting Stars Left came to life with a lot of cranky community members in mind, and a little murder to keep it twisting. (Coming April 2022).

So … how does a beginner learn to fly?

First, let me say that if you’re like me, and have barely held a controller, then you’ve got a STEEP learning curve, familiarizing yourself with button and sticks.  AAAAAwk! I’m terrible at video games. What was I thinking? My instructors make it look so easy. I suppose it’s like riding a bike or brain surgery—the more you do it—the better you get at it.

Second, consider starting with a flight simulation program.  Crashes can get expensive.

A sissy like me can muddle through with minimal damage to the drone by keeping it LOW to the GROUND and going slowly.  I was told ….crashes for a beginner are inevitable—sigh…but I have no idea why my drone is attracted to the one and only tree in the open field, over and over.  Crashing the drone doesn’t hurt like falling off a horse, but it can maim your wallet…and that’s how the 3D printing (replaceable parts) was added to the storyline.  I suppose I’d get better at flying if I could learn how to make a drone dump moss-remover on my pointy roof—OR chase the bone-buying, crap-depositing stray dogs out of my garden.  But then I read about…

Drones that Bark Like Dogs…
My cheap drone doesn’t have this feature and the drones fly quietly in  my small-town-mystery. But let me tell you, it would be really satisfying to use this technology to curse that drone-eating tree.
Enjoy this short New Zealand video for a quick taste of ranching and barking drones.
Credits: Video:RNZ News; Photo: Rebecca Niver
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Hardly Any Shooting Stars Left doesn't pretend to answer ALL of life's questions.  But through their trials, the characters find answers they weren't looking for---some hilarious, some painful.

With a cast of women in the lead, this inspirational mystery is much more than a whodunit or coming of age story, as a twenty-six-year old tries to leave her inherited ranch and small town critics behind.  Murder, her temper, and bitter loyalty get in her way in this contemporary women's fiction set in eastern Oregon.  Suspense and plot twists carry the reader at a fast pace through a well-told inspirational mystery.​

“I love a good mystery!  When I also learn something new — about 3D printers and drones, in this instance— I know I’m in the hands of a skilled writer.  That’s why I loved B.K. Froman’s Hardly Any Shooting Stars Left. A Northwest setting, unique characters with struggles we can relate to. Add plot twists and turns and refreshing images and you have one fine, fine story I loved.
~Jane Kirkpatrick, NY Times Bestselling author of The Healing of Natalie Curtis.”
 

BK Froman has done it again with a shoot-from-the-hip witty mystery. If the Oregon setting isn't inspiring enough, the story offers quirky entendres, murder, mayhem and marvelous characters. Froman's clever writing is always a cut above. This one has 'Award Winner' written all over it.
~Anne Schroeder, Author of The Caballero’s Son

-Winter inspires change for me because Christmas is coming. I begin cleaning like a cavewoman tossing out the bones of autumn. This tidy-up frenzy begins with Advent and ends with Christmas.

My family doesn’t notice when I’ve cleaned (nor do they notice when I've cut my hair, weeded flower beds, or been published.) I believe this is typical of most relatives who only say something when it impacts their lives. Here are easy tips to speed you to sanitation success:
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• Make sure Winter Cleaning Throws the Household into a Tizzy.

The ladder, vacuum, and tub of supplies remain in full display as I inch from room to room.
(Tip #1: It’s important to get full credit for doing mind-fracturing boring tasks—leave evidence the family will trip over.)

• ​Skip Cooking

​ Huffing the hair out of my face and adding a depression-era stare, I say,  “I haven’t had time to cook. I have a can of beanie-weenies I can open.” The goal here is to not fix meals during these 4 weeks. If you’ve bought enough banana-guacamole and beanie-weenies this is possible.
(Tip #2: You must be consistent for the retraining to work!!! Always offer, sorry-sad cuisine during cleaning-times and children will eat with friends, and your significant other will learn to stop by the deli and bring food home.)​

• Remind Complainers that Cleaning is Mandated by the Solar System.

a)   On earth, nature does an annual scour by pouring floods, hail, and wind to shake loose and blow away what it can. 
b)    On a larger level, God made black holes to suck up the extra bits and bobs of the Universe.
c)    You must respond to the ancient call of planetary sanitation. It’s in your chromosome (Pick X or Y, your choice. Make it work for you.)

• After 20 days, Ask for Items Which Would Make This Onerous Task Easier.

 I’m shooting for an Apple watch this year.
(Tip #3: Don’t get a new Super Swiffer or some labor-saving device. ARE YOU CRAZY? Ask for stuff that's a big carrot to get through 4 weeks of scrubbing.  Think Hawaii.)

• If you finish ahead of schedule...

.WHooPEE!!! Now you’ll have time to visit the Museum of Clean in Pocatello Idaho. They promise inspiring moments, like the rocking-chair-powered vacuum cleaner, which didn't capture dirt, but did a fine job of redistributing it.
It will remind you...that like death and taxes, eventualy, ALL of us have to  answer the call to clean…sometimes change is good.