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March 27, 2021: Gone with the Wind

Too bad, that title was taken and run into the ground. But I am calling your attention to it – if you move beyond the time worn, and appreciate it for what it is, it’s a dang good title.

I am seeing it anew, and I’m thinking about storms that blow in and blow out. The last storm was really something. Yesterday and today, it was sunny and warm. In town, the snow was melting, and the water was puddling up. I could not avoid the puddles, so my leather Steiger mukluks got wet. I now need to exclusively wear my rubber boots, especially when I’m in town most of the day, as I was today.


Leading a young Hrimmi through the S bend


Less so here, but it was fairly warm at 6:30 p.m. when I took Tinni and Shadow for an evening walkabout. The sun was low in the sky. It will set tonight at about 9:00 p.m. The light, it’s back. And it’s still early in the season.

And – okay, I am a loser. I misplace my gloves, on an average, once an hour. When it’s below zero, I either have to find that glove or go and get another. Today, I misplaced my right hand glove twice. I didn’t bother to go and get another. Rather, I just continued to do what it is I do, mainly clean up after animals, wearing just one glove. Pretty soon, it will be so warm that I won’t need to wear any gloves at all. I can hardly wait.

Saturday, book sorting day. There were not many boxes on hand at VCRS and we were told, it wasn’t worth it, moving the Gaylord that was in the receiving area, into the warehouse because it had so few books in it. And so, Bill and I finished sorting in an hour’s time.

Paydirt. Always paydirt. There were a couple dozen really nice cardboard boxes, perfect for mailing out books, an easy size to carry, filled with Tundra Comic Day calendars. A waste of paper and plastic, for sure. But the boxes, this was worth the price of admission. I began emptying the contents of the boxes into the Wal Mart shopping carts and put them on a pallet. So today, Pete and I took empty boxes to the Meeting House.

This was a good thing because there were still, on hand, about 50 boxes of books to be distributed. Pete and I broke down the old boxes that were lying about and filled the new, small, mail ready boxes with distribution material. This took us the rest of the afternoon.

For me, this means that I’ll be making distribution calls on Monday. I can deal.

Today, I envisioned setting up shop in a storefront shop. This would not be a bookstore, but rather a reading room, much like the Christian Science Monitor Centers. Readers can come in, read, and take home books they like. There might be a chess game on hand, and maybe a Scrabble game. And plants, lots of plants. And, perhaps, even a fish aquarium. Once again, the now timeworn adage comes to mind – build it, and they will come.

Next: 87. 3/28/21: Out and About

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