I talked with two good friends today. Was good for me. I hope it was good for Bill Schmidtkunz and Heather Ashe. Bill came by to get manure. He is again dumping it by the side of the road, near the riverbank. This way, the grass will come in green and the truckers won’t park on the area across from his house.

The manure was sloppy and gloppy and the buckets, filled with water-sodden hay and manure, were very heavy. He made two trips, the second time bringing buckets back. This arrangement works well for him and as well for us since our compost stations are about full.

Bill and Pete load up manure

Bill and I talked a bit about the Bright Lights Book Project. I said at one point that we had a lot to do. Bill then said that we’d already done a great deal. This statement made me feel really good – and for two reasons. The first is that, quite obviously, his degree of investment is as great as mine. And secondly, he indirectly gave me permission to continue to dream about what might still come to be – I keep picturing this really nice building, with windows, shelves, an open space, an area for kids, a lending library, a reading/conference room.

My vision is such that I see this as being more than a book resale building. It will be a literacy/literary area, one in which all kinds of classes will be held.

I have taken to talking with my friend Heather two nights a week. She just moved to a new place, and with her partner Willy, is now a home owner, in a rural area. She indicated (after some prodding) that she’s feeling overwhelmed by all that needs doing. She then said something so amazingly profound that I was taken aback. She said that she realized that she has figured out that she can’t do certain things, that is force them, unless the project speaks to her.

Wow. She gave the example of working on her horse administrativa, something she could not do unless she was in the right frame of mind. This project took her back to her early years in having acquired Rio – she was then able to reflect on her relationships with her horse and all of those involved with his care.

I am now making an all-important connection. I spent a better portion of the day getting my five or so libraries in order. This is a part of a larger project, a major reorganizational effort. I’m attempting to make both my upstairs work area and my writing cabin more habitable. Now I could not do this before now because this project was not speaking to me. So I ignored it. What may have motivated me to get going on this was that other things (i.e. two writing projects) were taking up my time. Right now, they are not speaking to me, which is why I shifted gears. I have to realize that its okay to shift gears.

And right now, the Bright Lights Book Project isn’t speaking to me. I can’t work on site. And I don’t have grant writing expertise. But I am confident that it will speak to me again.

Now heading outside, as always, manure is speaking to me, saying, please come and clean up. So I am going to heed the call.

Next: 110. 4/20/20: What Gives?