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April 29, 2022: Twists and Turns

It’s true that women’s lives are seldom linear. This is because it’s still a man’s world. They are raised to take on specific jobs while women are raised to be their counterparts. We are the child bearers and it’s supposed that our number one job is to tend to the children. Those who don’t have children are a statistical anomaly, and often looked at askance by men and women.

Even woman who think early on in terms of their careers often veer off the well beaten path. Often, more and better options present themselves to us.


Logan filming the Bright Lights Book Project


Me, my life has taken many twists and turns. Always, my love of horses has been a constant. I for a while thought that I could instruct riders using a horse/human body awareness focus. I still have not figured out why this didn’t work out. I now realize that my mentor, Susan Harris, was not forthright when others questioned my abilities.

I now hope at some point to acquire an instructor with Centered Riding training and get additional instruction. I also hope to do another long trip, although Raudi is almost past her prime.

So my focus went from horseback riding instruction and body awareness to what I now call the book project. The project has grown immeasurably since its inception two years ago – to a large part because of the high degree of investment of several volunteers.

The downside is twofold. First of all, my horses are now languishing away. And secondly, I could not travel even if I wanted to. The upside is that I am thinking that there may in the future be a way to reconnect to my interest in body awareness, that is using it as part of a literacy-based focus. In order to act on this, I need space.

In the meantime, I am making do with three temporary storage sites. Something will materialize, and when so, there will be far more ahh haa moments.

Today, Milena, Bill, and I met with Michele, who is the community relations manager for Kaladi Brothers Coffee. Milena introduced me to Michele a few months ago. Milena and Michele both work for corporate entities in providing financial support to nonprofits. Michele, as does Milena, really thinks highly of the Bright Lights Book Project. And so today we first provided her with a history of the project and after talked about where bookcases might go. We all agreed to start small, beginning this partnership by placing one bookcase in Wasilla and another in Anchorage.

Bill will build one of the two bookcases. I think a few more are coming up from Anchorage.

After, I met with Nan, the BLBP events coordinator, and we talked about tomorrow’s day long event in town, called Who Let the Girls Out. Essentially, local businesses promote their businesses by encouraging customers to do a walkabout. We’ll be there with books.

Maybe, just maybe, someone will have some ideas about how we might acquire a more permanent site for the project. Hope continues to spring eternal.

Next: 119. 5/1/21: The Three Redheads go out on a Spring Outing

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