I tried juggling. I wasn’t any good at it. I knew this, but when finally it was pointed out to me, I gave it up. Still, I have adhered to the now very time-worn metaphor: Juggling’s good, juggling’s great, thank you circus performers for handing me the plate.

And so, I continue to juggle things in my head, while maintaining the illusion that I might someday achieve a certain level of proficiency.

Today’s a good example. As I was pen cleaning this morning, I began thinking about the so-called new Bright Lights Distribution area. We previously set up a bookstore and a sorting and distribution area. And in the past two weeks a site near the warehouse bay was set aside for outgoing books. Thought embodies itself in language, which was why I first pictured and then re-named the existent areas. Now, in addition to the bookstore, we have a sorting and categorization area, and a distribution area.

The new distribution area will, when finished, be set up for boxes of books going to homeless shelters, local organizations, and individuals. It will be located next to a window. I’m going to clean the window and get a hanging basket and have this in that area. I still have to decorate (with chalk) the rear walls of the sorting and categorization area. The beauty of all this is that I can work independently and limit interaction with others.

Alys and Tyra

Figuring all this out this morning did take time, time that perhaps I should have put into Forks. But I did finally switch gears and revise and copy edit a number of chapters. My main thought today contradicted what I’ve said in the past, which is that every good piece of writing presents a problem. I am coming to realize that sometimes I create writerly problems. With the pretext of making the writing in hand even better. Sometimes it does, but not always. This then was my rationalization for leaving a few things as they were. Most importantly, as with the book project, I feel good about how this project is going.

Time spent on Forks was perhaps time that should have been spent with the horses. Fortunately, we now have plenty of daylight, now until close to 9 p.m. So if I get out around 2 p.m. I have plenty of horse time. Today Pete and I went around the loop twice, the first time with Raudi and Tinni and the second time with Tyra and Hrimmi. I also did agility with all three of them.

Back to the juggling metaphor. I ended up keeping one ball in the air at a time. I now know that this is the best that I ever will be able to do. I can’t multi-task, so keeping numerous balls in the air is not in the cards. However, I can focus on one thing at a time. The trick is to become more adept at setting the one ball down and picking up the other. Being flexible and being balanced. This is what I am now striving for.

Next: 82. 3/23/20: No End in Sight