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December 28, 2022: No Shortage of Books

I’ve always had this theory, and this is that there is no shortage of whatever you are interested in, if it’s your passion in life. This is true of most things.

Say, if you are a dog person you will undoubtedly be surrounded by those who are into dogs. Say, if you are a horse person, you will undoubtedly be surrounded by those who are into horses. If you are a book person, you will undoubtedly be surrounded by those who are into books. And those with like interests also have what you have. This then, is an abundance-related interest.


I remember before the book project – I’d routinely order books online and purchase them from bookstores. Pete has the records – we’d spend a few hundred dollars a year on books.

Since becoming a literary dumpster diver, I have not spent much money on books. Neither have my friends. Bill Schmidtkunz, he claims that his house is also now full of books. And there are others who are in a similar situation.

There are also horse barns and dog kennels out there that are full to overflowing.

However, even though I have plenty of books on hand, there are a few that have not yet surfaced, Susan Orlean’s The Library Book being one of them. I read a copy that I found in the Sutton library. I need my own copy so I can quote from it. I also lent my copy of The Science of Breathing to Josh, our horse farrier, and he has yet to return it. I don’t think that he’s going to get the book back to me.

Books now come and books now go.

I suppose that having a Kindle would be more convenient, or at least this is what I’ve been told. I wonder if I had one, would I then hang out with Kindle users? I suppose we’d find each other by noting in passing that one or the other had one. A look of recognition would follow. I picture this happening on a subway, train station, or airport, that is places where people congregate.

Today I put labels on ten boxes of books that were on a pallet at U-Haul. Holly, whose husband works for the Gottstein Company, a food distributor, took them. She’s going to make sure that the boxes get to designated Alaskan villages.

It’s not like giving someone a book – I don’t know what will become of them. The odds are pretty high that these books will end up in the hands of appreciative readers because they are quality books.

I also distributed in town today. There were so many people perusing the three bookcases at Vagabond Blues that I had to wait some time before moving in and setting out more books. At one point I went outside and brought in another box – and when I got back, appreciative readers were checking out this box.

I do wonder what my life would be like if I, and like minded people, were into alligators. Something to mull over, for sure.

Next: 357. 12/29/22: A Bright and Sunny Day

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