Sometimes I have an idea as to what a given dispatch will be about. At other times I am at a loss. I never know, though, when I do stand up to write (this as opposed to sit down to write) how, or what, might materialize. I hit snags when I do and don’t know what I’m going to write. No matter what, I write a dispatch a day, shooting for and often exceeding 500 words.

Sometimes, like today, I begin with an image and then see where it takes me and what materializes.

The image is of me, entering the salvaging area of the VCRS recycling center and seeing that no one else has yet arrived. Usually, Bill Schmidtkunz gets there before I do. He comes in through the upstairs door – he grabs a cup of coffee before coming downstairs. If Pete is with me, the first question that he’ll ask Bill is “what’s for lunch?” Bill, in getting his coffee, checks out the menu, and tells Pete what’s being served – although those who get Saturday lunch serve themselves.

Bill sorting at VCRS

So for a while I was alone. I sorted through the Gaylord; there was little in there that was salvageable.

I then moved a box of books (the entire load was destined for us) onto the table and started sorting. It was an instance of “the goods being odd as opposed to the odd being good.” As I was sorting, Bill, wearing his hard hat and vest, said hello and assessed the situation. He decided to salvage the books to be shredded that were in the shopping carts and Gaylord. We have given up on asking the staff to refrain from tossing unsorted boxes of books into the pile to be shredded. Instead, we take (gratefully) what we can get.

Pete then appeared and then went to unload books that we had gotten yesterday, from other sources.

Then Gene Backus appeared on my left. Gene is a long-time friend of ours – a Renaissance man who is both well read and hands on. He and I worked together, companionably, side-by-side, most of the morning. I hope he makes salvaging books a habit.

Then a fellow who said that he’s doing community service time appeared on my right and began going through the books on the table. There had been some milling around, with Pete, Bill, and I attempting to figure out what we were each doing. We three had figured out a routine when this guy appeared. I explained to him about the Bright Lights Book Project, and what we do and why we do it. He didn’t seem to hear me. And he had no idea what or why he was doing what he was doing, which was tossing books right, left, and in between.

I should not have gotten irritated. This was just, for me, a disruption of my routine. I just wanted to work quietly, and every so often interact with Bill, Pete, and Gene. The poor guy sensed that I was bothered and finally went to work with those dealing with recyclables.

The rest of the morning was uneventful. There were a few boxes of children’s books on hand. Now I’ll have books on hand for kids at Friday’s open house.

There I wrote for surprise and was surprised.

Next: 64. 3/5/23: One Day Closer to Spring