I wonder if, at the beginning of the last ice age, those then living said, “oh to hell with this,” and just kept on doing what they were doing, oblivious to the fact that their kind (whatever this may have been) would soon succumb to the cold. The reason why I wonder this is because no one except me seems to be speculating how long this will last. And no one except me seems to be wondering if this is the new weather norm.

The weather forecasters aren’t saying what’s going on, which makes me suspicious. I guess they don’t want everyone heading to the store and buying out the coffee supplies. They want the coffee for themselves. I am not a coffee drinker, but I can hardly say as I blame them.

I’m keeping an eye on the long-range forecast. Right now, there seems to be no end to the cold spell in sight. We used to call them cold snaps. Now we call them cold spells. As in, can you spell COLD?

It was in the single digit below zero numbers today, all day. It would have been too cold to walk the horses, so I again went to Anchorage with Milena. She picked me up at the meeting house after I dropped off books at Vagabond Blues and Turkey Red Restaurant. Just one moment of panic beforehand, again the numerical code lock wasn’t working. Then, as if by magic, it did.

I had no idea that there would be 11 of us going to box up books at TOTE, Melina’s place of work. I climbed into the front seat of the van and looked behind me, and indeed, there were ten kids and one adult.

I have to say, although the kids were quite noisy, they did the tasks they were assigned to do. Milena pulled books off the metal shelves. The kids put First Book stickers in the inside cover. Then Milena and I boxed up the books and got them ready to ship to villages.

Milena puts two clear plastic bags in a box, then packs the books, heavier books first. She then takes the box and writes where it’s going on the outside. It’s a very simple process, and one that I will follow when I package up books for the Bright Lights Book Project.

It was good that Milena involved kids. Actually, it was a stroke of brilliance. The kids are then around books, and they see the process that’s involved in preparing them to send to villages. After, some of the kids actually asked for books. Thus, her project both benefits those kids who are packing up books, and those who are receiving them.

I was well aware of all this; nevertheless, the noise of that many children, running around, was at times near deafening. It was good for me though, to be around kids. At least this is what I told myself then and will undoubtedly tell myself in the days ahead, when I go back and box more First Wave books.

Next: 329. 11/28/21: Moving in Slow Motion