You are back at it, sorting on Saturdays at the VCRS Recycling Center. You have mixed feelings about this. It was good for a while to have Saturday mornings free; this gave you time to tend to things that needed to be done. Now you are once again duty bound. On the other hand, of all the Bright Light Book Project tasks, sorting is your favorite, always has been, and always will be.

Today you first stopped in town and checked out the bookcase distribution sites. Some books gone, most there. Not as many gone after two days as in the past. You suspect (and you hope that you’re wrong) that because the tourists have now gone home, books are going more slowly. Your hope is that now that there is an established local clientele, more books will soon be on their way out.

After saying hello to the VCRS staff and putting on a reflective vest, you ventured down into the processing area, and momentarily took in the sight before you. Books, they were everywhere, stacked on tables, heaped on the baler, arranged loosely in shopping carts, and piled up in the Gaylords. You then turned to Pete who was behind you and said “well, we have our work cut out for us.” Your further thinking was that this was an understatement.

Sooner or latter many books are recycled

As it was, you both worked hard, taking just a twenty-minute lunch break before returning to the task at hand. Pete sorted through the cardboard boxes on the pallet, and you sorted though the books in the shopping cart. You were aghast because the shopping carts were filled with children’s books. Recall that books in the shopping carts are destined to be shredded.

“No, no, no,” you said repeatedly, as you pulled forth these books and then stacked them neatly in boxes, spine up. You were actually relieved to have salvaged these books at this particular moment in time because you’d been concerned that there would not be enough children’s books for the newspaper boxes at the fair. Problem solved. There were now more than enough. Your having orchestrated this again came back to mind – no wonder you felt smug.

Because, on this day there were so many books, many had to be tossed. Those that went into the empty shopping cart were health, spiritual, and financially related. Really, no one wants Doss for Dummies or Photoshop 4.2. Nor are readers going to claim outdated aviation manuals. Actually, it occurred to you that you were doing the world a favor by tossing these books since really, mechanics should have up-to-date information, right?

The amassed total of books at the sorting day’s end was two full pallets, which fit neatly into the back of the Tundra. You assisted Pete in unloading them at the Meeting House. Pete carried them inside and you did some categorizing in the rear of the truck.

And once again, you felt anxious, again wondering – where are all these books going to go?

Next: 225. 8/15/21: Will Wonders Ever Cease