I go the Palmer Senior Center on Tuesdays and put out books for appreciative readers. I’ve been doing this now for two years, maybe three. I sometimes also go on Thursdays, but not lately because I’ve been so busy sorting books.

I go there around noon. It used to be the lunch hour, but the administrative powers that be took away what they called congregate lunches. I don’t know what congregate means – I think they should have used the term communal. The long-time volunteers have amped up what they call commodities. They put various types of food and whatnot items on three tables that form a partial square, and one of the other volunteers, one with a microphone in hand, calls out table numbers. Those at a given table can then go and pick out what they want. This takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Attendance is then pretty high. Conversely, it’s low on the other three days.

Taylor and Alys

Sometimes I am reminded of being in college again and hanging out in the student café. This was my final semester. I wish that I had been as popular then as I am now. It seems that everyone is glad to see me. Today especially. One of the seniors, Lloyd, handed me a prose poem as I was getting books out of the car – he asked me to read it. I was so busy that I didn’t get to this – he came and took the poem back when I was talking to someone else. A woman also said she had a carload of cookbooks; then she took offense when I said that I wasn’t going to put them in my car – I told her they were too heavy. She said she’d take them to the thrift store – I said good, that the thrift store takes them to VCRS where we salvage them. She stormed off in a huff.

On the more positive side of things – Taylor (see photo) gave me a walking stick. It is very well balanced and fits me well. Problem is, I don’t know when I’ll use it. My hands are usually full of books. I will continue to reciprocate by supplying him with art books.

And there was this – Mario, who assists me in unloading books, said that I should use a cart. I said that a better option would be to have a place where I can leave the books. I mentioned this to a board member, who said that I’d have to talk to maintenance. I said that I did this previously and got nowhere. She said that this was not my problem. I mentioned this to a new board member, and he found a storage area for the books. And Mary, who is married to Mario, found a cart.

Now using a cart (which means locating it first), and taking it to another room and unloading books, is going to take more time than just carrying in the totes. But time is not of the essence. What’s of the essence is allowing others to give me an assist. This is their way of reciprocating.

Next: 177. 6/28/23: Closing in on Another Chapter of Self Life