Mid-February, moving into March. There’s a reason why February only has 28 days, 29 days every four years. This is psychological. If February had 30 or 31 days, it would seem never-ending. And if it seemed never ending, a good number of us would do ourselves in before the month’s end. Me, I’d jump off an ice flow.

There is something that really bothers me about this month, and this is that it does not sound the way it’s spelled. I write “Febuary,” then I have to change it. This occurs every single day. I wish February was, like April and September, more straightforward. I guess one non-straightforward month in twelve is pretty good odds. And this problem only lasts 28, sometimes 29 days.

The books are on the palet and ready to go to Bethel

You’d think after all these years that I’d get the hang of writing February, well, towards the end of the month, I do, but then 11 months later, I have to again resume the spelling struggle.

The Bright Lights Book Project is an excellent winter distraction because I’m less inclined to think about the fact that it’s still winter and I am not going to be able to smell the aroma of the cottonwood trees until May, which still seems like an eternity away.

Distractions – yesterday I got books pretty much ready to take to the airport today. Pretty much ready. I knew that there was still more to be done. Today, Pete gave me an assist. We first drove to the recycling center and picked up the VCRS van. Then we drove to the Meeting House and finished preparing the books for shipping. Pete has a gift for packaging books. I became aware of this when he began packaging the ebay books for shipping. He both has a good sense of space relations and is adept at taping. I have often thought that I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of his packages because I wouldn’t have a clue as to how to get it opened.

He finished up the packaging I started. I wrote out labels for the boxes. Then into the van 20 boxes went. Fortunately, the roads were clear and the sky sunny. It was like we were caught in a storm sandwich. It snowed yesterday and will snow again tomorrow.

The Northern Air Cargo freight area is located in the airport industrial area. We pulled up to the door. It was like they knew we were coming. We piled the 20 boxes of books onto two pallets and they were taken into the bowels of the warehouse. I then dealt with the paperwork. Now everyone is masked and behind plexiglass. This makes it harder to hear people. I signed several forms, and just like that, the mission was accomplished.

This was a huge project. I hope that the books are well received on the other end. As I repeatedly told Pete, “well, they won’t be coming back here.” Maybe the books we sent to the Bethel High School will find their way out into the community. I’d like to think that this is going to be the case.

Next: 49. 2/18/21: Déjà vu All over Again, Again, and Again