Right now, my life is just this – a balancing act. If I was to use the analogy of a scale, it would be tipped heavily in favor of the Bright Lights Book Project.

I never expected what has happened, to happen – I am now dealing with an abundance of books. Last December, I went to my friend Becky’s solstice gathering where we were to put on one sheet of paper what we wished for, and on another, what we weren’t wishing for. At least I think this was it. I wished for an abundance of books; this after Becky’s cautionary note to be careful for what we wished for – she ended up with more bills than she could pay.

Alys with new shelves at meetin house

This morning I went to Sutton and arranged to have the newspaper box at the General Store moved (by Pete) to the Ak State Fairgrounds. I also checked the bookcase at the Alaska Native Health Center – it needs signage and more books. And I stocked the Sutton Post Office Kiosk.

I wished for books, and I got books. This morning a teacher from Cottonwood Creek Elementary school dropped off 20 or so boxes of kids/young adult books. She was tall, lanky, twentyish, in a hurry, just set those books on the church tables and then took off.

I then cleaned the kids’ room, making more room for the cleaned kids’ books. As I was finishing up, Pete appeared with 30-or-so more boxes of assorted books. He is of medium height, fiftyish, balding. He set the recycling center books on the remaining church tables and then took off.

So there I was, literally surrounded by books. I did what I do so well, sorting and categorizing books. I focused on the books that Pete dropped off – putting boxes on shelves and in bins. I also put the books for the distributors on the shelves.

This took me five hours. I did not distribute books because by the time I finished, it was 6:30 p.m. I put the books for the Senior Center in DGNPNY II, and the books for distribution tomorrow in the center of the main room. I had already put the kids’ books to be cleaned on the long table in the dining room.

So, I’m all set for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day because I’ll doing all the Palmer distribution routes. Bill is busy right now doing his state fair construction thing. It is odd, how money motivates people – if we had the money to pay him more than the fair vendors he is working for are paying him, he’d be assisting more with the project. I don’t begrudge him this – he very much enjoys doing the fair work.

This year the theme is, “Experience the Wonder.” I wish we’d gotten a poster with an image of a child reading a book.

Everyone likes the project. This keeps me energized. And this morning I did have time to take Raudi on a short outing. More mornings like this morning and I’ll be just fine.

Next: 223. 8/16/22: @#$%^&*+