The days we are least likely to remember are those in which everything goes wrong. It must be that hardship makes its own neural pathway in the brain, while the opposite makes no pathway at all. This has to be a survival mechanism.

I want to remember the good bits; this is why I attempt to record them. Problem is, readers want the hardship related stuff. This time around, meaning this lifetime, I am attempting to strike a happy balance.

So today, most everything went really well.

Bill with Home - his book of poems

I first stopped at the Sunrise Grill and put a few books in the bookcase.

I next filled DGNPNY’s gas tank at the edge of town filling station. I like going there. I know what pump to go to, and I remember what side of car to pull up to the filling station.

I next stopped at the Iditawash Laundromat and was told, yes, they would like a bookcase and kids’ books.

The Iditawash Laundromat was right next to Roots Hair Salon where I thought I had an appointment to get my hairs cut. Turns out, my appointment was tomorrow. But Barb, who cuts my hair fit me in. We talked horses. This is the reason I go to her. I have no imagination when it comes to saying how my hair might be styled, so all who cut it, cut it the same way. The horse talk, this is a perk. It’s the only subject matter that interests me.

Next, I went to the Mat-Su Borough building and put books in that bookcase. After, I went to the Alaska DMV and filled that bookcase. The local DMV is hard to find. I lucked out, this time I happened to make all the right turns.

The Kombucha place was closed, so I didn’t drop off any books there.

From there I went to the Meeting House and picked up more books, which I took to the U-Haul storage locker. I was to meet Heather who works for the Knik Tribal Council and her son Hunter. I knew that Heather wanted nonfiction books, but I didn’t know how old Hunter was. As it turned out, he is in his early 20s. I presumed that for this reason that he wouldn’t want young adult books, but he ended up taking 10-or-so boxes for the Knik Tribal Council school. Heather took 5 or so hard-to-place boxes of books.

Onward, I next filled the bookcases at Vagabond Blues and The Valley Hotel. From there, I returned to the Meeting House and attempted to clean the refrigerator. I just tossed food items – I rightly presumed that I’d need to unplug the refrigerator in order to clean it. It does not smell bad, but it is a mess.

I sorted fiction and nonfiction books before leaving, putting the fiction by itself, in a specific area.

Right before leaving, I noticed that I didn’t have my backpack. I brethed a sigh of relief in realizing that my wallet was in my coat pocket. So if I had lost my backpack, it would not have been any big deal. However, I did retrace my steps and discovered that I’d left it on a U-Haul cart outside the storage area.

There has to be a bit of hardship each and every day. Fortunately, today’s hardship was such that I it did not affect my mood. Tomorrow may be different; you just never know. Change is a constant.

Next: 39. 2/8/22: Scraping the Bottom of the Bucket