Love Locks in the News – Again

 

by Sybil Johnson

Back in 2019, I wrote a post on Type M on “Love Locks and Locksporting”. You can read it here. At the time, I was doing research for book 6 in the Aurora Anderson mystery series, “Brush Up On Murder”. I included both of those things in a story that’s set around Valentine’s Day. Well, finally after way too long, “Brush Up On Murder” is out in the world! So far it’s receiving good reviews. One of these days I’ll write some posts about my journey into being a hybrid author, but not today.

Love locks are in the news again. This time at the Grand Canyon. This is one place that I never thought I’d hear about people putting love locks. On a bridge in Paris, yes, I can see that. Next to the Grand Canyon, well, no.

Many articles have been written about this. Here’s one of them: https://www.travelandleisure.com/grand-canyon-love-locks-condor-animal-safety-8357412 Basically, the Grand Canyon is not a good place for a love lock. And throwing the key into the canyon, as many people are doing, is really, really not a good idea. Birds, like the California condor (an endangered species), are curious about shiny objects. They will pick up a key or a coin and it’ll get stuck inside them. Then they need surgery to get the key removed. Not a good thing.

In my book, there’s a bit of controversy regarding putting love locks on a pier railing and throwing keys into the ocean. But, anytime I show someone putting up a love lock anywhere, they always throw the key in a trashcan.

The first time I saw love locks in person was in San Antonio, Texas, where there was a spot near the River Walk. We watched a couple attach one, even took a picture for them. But, from what I remember, they threw the key into a trashcan and not into the neighboring canal.

If you want to see if there’s a love lock location near you, you can consult a map by going to https://www.makelovelocks.com/locations/ Not sure how up to date it is. 

Google also has a map created by a user: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1RwGgvR5pfnrShKgzWv6bs0uYovRr1bkF&hl=en_US&ll=8.367612651659764%2C-3.5638382500000034&z=1 

But don’t throw the key into a body of water or the Grand Canyon!