I often wonder myself why I am here, especially when the darkness closes in. But then I have days like today in which I value winter for what it is – the polar opposite (no pun intended) of summer.
This morning, temps were in the 20s. It was overcast, and the wind was sporadic. I first took Hrimfara and the dogs out on an hour-and-a-half trail ride; then I took Raudi and Tinni out. Both mares were energized and wanted to go fast. I did let them haul ass up the hills, but I made them go slowly down hills. I saw a moose when I was riding Raudi. She was so intent on picking up the pace that she paid him little mind.
I took the dogs out once – they also seemed energized.
I got home and went to town, to the Meeting House. I removed the BLT books from the upper shelves in the church library, and I set them on the long table in the other room. Beautiful books on all aspects of gay culture. Lots of lesbian fiction. I had hardly read any of these books. Here, I thought, was a well-rounded reader. A student named Arin took the books – said she’ll take them home and look through them, select what she wants, then store the rest in the Mat-Su student government office.
I was really pleased to have gotten these books into good hands. Otherwise, they would have remained on the shelf. An added bonus was that I then had extra shelf space. I put the theological books on the left side of the room with the theological books on the right side of the room. Then I put the books in boxes, from the recycling center, on the shelves on the left-hand side. By the time I was done, the room looked less like a repository for abandoned books and more like a library. The beauty of this system is that I can easily find like-books when I’m getting ready to do distribution.
I came home and cleaned the horse pen. As I was coming up the hill, I saw the very welcoming sight of the interior lights. And as I entered the door, I felt the heat that was emanating from the woodstove. Light and warmth, if there was no winter, I would not appreciate both to the degree that I do.
Next: 15. 1/15/21: Commonalities
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