I am exhausted. For me to say this means that I am really, really tired. However, it’s a good tired. The sort of tired I felt after last Saturday was a not so good tired.

It’s good that I was able to dive into this project right after Saturday’s fiasco. I’m still thinking about what happened. Another analogy: I became like a boat that had lost its mooring. I started to drift. I didn’t feel a sense of affinity with any of my classmates – this was so different than last spring semester – and the exam proctors seemed lacking in an affinity for me, that is all but one – the woman who was administering the CPR practical. She was encouraging – and so I passed that practical.

Alys the reader

Anyhow, back to being tired. A couple of days ago, Stormy started limping – her leg was dangling. I figured it was broken. As I’d been trained to do, I felt it for DCAPBTLS, which is deformities, contusions, abrasions, punctures, burns, tenderness, swelling. I did a chunk check. I didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.

Our veterinarian, Zach Kaiser, he came over today – I was so scared. He CAREFULLY examined Stormy and found two sets of puncture wounds. I think it was a dog bite and it was Ryder. This has never happened before and will never happen again.

Though tired, I’m relieved. It would have broken my heart to have her euthanized. She is too lovely an animal to part company with. We have to keep the wound clean and also give her a strong antibiotic in two days’ time. This we can do.

The book project doings took my mind off Stormy for a bit. Now, upstairs in the recycling center – there are hundreds of kids’ books, in boxes. Pam, a volunteer, was sorting young adult and kids’ books when I left this afternoon. It is going to take many hands to get this done. And, the downstairs books also need to be sorted out. It all seems insurmountable right now, but I am of the mind that tomorrow, assistance will magically appear.

Overall, the energy level at the recycling center is at an all-time high. I can’t say why this is – I do believe that this is primarily circumstantial. At the same time a new director is on board and he is himself a very positive person.

I got a ride home from Bill Schmidtkunz who has been working as hard as I have the past few weeks. He is not working tomorrow – rather, and rightly so, he’s pacing himself. Me, I’m going off the energy that comes with having a renewed sense of purpose. And this is a very good thing.

Next: 351. 12/20/19: A Conversation with my Inner Voice