It’s now the end of the first of the year/quarterly grant cycle. Pete (with assistance that’s taken the form of encouragement) has met seven grant deadlines. And the past week he’s gotten increasingly sicker, I think from the stress of having this work to do.

When I talked to him this afternoon, he said he felt better. Perhaps coincidently this coincided with his having gotten the last quarterly grant application off to the grant provider.

No one has worked harder on this project than Pete. The sheer amount of administrativa has been overwhelming. So much for this being a peripatetic project. True peripatetic projects have no overhead and no administrativa. We do have administrativa. And if we get a building, we’ll have overhead.

Revolving bookcase at Sutton Post Offce

We are dependent upon some business owners/organizations for the use of space. If we had a building and people came and got books directly from us, we’d be on more stable ground organizationally.

I was thinking this, this morning. I went to Sutton, the next town over, and mailed the books going to Brownsville, Texas. We had had a revolving bookcase in the post office lobby, but Larry, the postmaster, told Bill, the bookcase distributor, that it had to go. Apparently, someone had stuffed books in the mail drop. Bill relocated the revolving bookcase to Turkey Red. It’s there, in a prominent place in the hallway.

Larry told me this morning that numerous people asked him where the revolving bookcase went. Perhaps this is why Larry had a change of heart. He told me that it would be okay to bring it back.

I have not yet spoken to Bill, so I don’t know if he is going to want to move it back. This is his call. He may be thinking that Larry is too much of a hothead to deal with. I don’t blame him. I am thinking that if Bill relocates the revolving bookshelf, that we can put a small bookcase in the place that the former occupies.

The very good thing about all this is that the people have spoken. Viva la revolution. Now if the bookcases at Vagabond Blues were removed, there would be a huge outcry. I guess we are now a well-known and appreciated entity.

At midmorning I went to the Palmer Senior Center. My friend Kaelyn beat me there. She had agreed to play her violin for the lunch time denizens. They were all delighted. Kaelyn had to compete with the AARP guy who did not, when he attempted to talk about internet service, have his audience’s undivided attention.

The morale at the Palmer Senior Center does seem to be on the upswing. Some of the snowbirds are back, and this has lent the dining area a stronger sense of cohesiveness.

This all, is what I’ll tell Pete when he gets home.

Next: 89. 3/31/23: Out like a Lamb