Oh, today is the first day of February. I thought it was yesterday. It’s a short month, so it feels compelled to make a distinct impression. January did such a good job on doing the same that she fizzled out on producing weather theatrics in her final three days of the month. February is already acting like Vladimir Putin – lots of bluster, lots of wind, and a promise of more to come.

It was overcast and cold in the morning. It was overcast and cold and blustery in the afternoon. I was at the Meeting House – I left in the late afternoon, before it got dark and before the storm rolled in. I could see the highway on the drive home, as always when encountering such conditions, the wind was strong, and the snow was swirling about on the road surface. I drove home slowly; it must have been my lucky day because I passed an Alaska State Trooper vehicle parked by the side of the road in front of the volunteer fire department. I was going 45 mph in a 55 mph zone.

I got home, discovered that it was less blustery and warmer here than in town. We are fortunate, we are up high. We also have southern exposure. Yesterday we looked out across the distant Mat-Su river and saw that those on the other side were enveloped in a fog bank.

This reminded me of hanging out at Saddle Up arena – Pioneer Peak shaded the grounds, so in the winter it was perpetually dark. We lucked out in finding this place because we were unaware that we’d be getting as much sun and daylight as we do. I suppose if we lived on the other side of the river, we’d be unaware of the fact that there’s more daylight here.

Today I again moved books around at the Meeting House, in order to make room for the other books that are on the way. The plan was to package up books that are going to villages tomorrow, at the U-Haul storage unit. As I was moving books around, it occurred to me that rather than package up books there, that I instead package them up at the Meeting House.

The plumbers are now taking care of the busted pipe situation. I figured this out when I saw that the base boards were off the pipes. Later, Carolyn, the Meeting House clerk, told me that the plumbers discovered 36 leaks. This, I think, when they put pressurized air into the pipes. I am wondering how long it’s going to take them to replace the pipes and also to replace the boiler.

Right now, books are in order. However, there sure are a lot of them. I am losing sleep thinking of what is to come of this project, which is a house of cards. The deck foundation would be a bit more solid if we got our nonprofit status and could move on and get grant funding. I would then feel better about how things are going.

Next: 33. 2/2/22: Groundhog Day