Young marvels, Trekkies, and my Sherlockian non-retirement.

There was a point during the John H. Watson Society's annual Treasure Hunt quiz where I announced my retirement from Sherlockiana to my team-mates. One of our team's younger members, @plexippa Beth, had just answered a question with a fabulous show of Sherlockian genius that reminded me of all the times my friend Bob, at the age I am now, would marvel at something I just did and exclaim "How did you even think of that?"

I'm not retiring from Sherlockiana, of course, but definitely taking in the fact that the next generation has some marvels in it. Because after all that quiz business, I plugged in Beth's latest "This Tangled Skein" podcast in and she changed the entire definition of a Canonical phrase that I had thought I understood since I first read it. I have a feeling that some previous Sherlockian explained that to me in some perhaps dry-ish text in some journal at some point, but it must not have stuck or produced the "Ah-ha!" moment that her explanation did.

"This Tangled Skein," if you haven't heard it, is an excellent little podcast for something like making your cocoa in the morning . . . not so long that you can't digest it in one sitting, and being on Sherlock Holmes, tea, and yarn, not tending to be quite as over-stimulating as a rare-pair porn discussion.

In addition to that "Ah-ha!" moment, I rather enjoyed discovering that Beth is also a Sherlockian married to a Trekkie. Having spent the previous evening decorating the house with 50 years of Star Trek memorabilia for a celebration of that anniversary (and a certain other) tonight, that mention definitely resonated. (The Sherlock Peoria household does actually contain both a Sherlock room and a Trek room.) Sherlockians and Trekkies go together like . . . well, things that go together . . . and it's not uncommon to find one with a bit of the other, which is probably why such relationships work.

While I don't think I'll be retiring from Sherlockiana anytime soon, it does bring me great joy that we have such great Sherlockians appearing over the last decade that I can watch the hobby blaze on in the years ahead. It gives me something to do besides shake my fist at the TV whenever that Jonny Lee Miller comes on. (Even though technically, I did have to power the set on and scroll to that channel, so make of that what you will.)

Onward!

P.S. Our Watsonian Treasure Hunt team did place third this year, once all the dust had settled. Here's a link to the full results.