Har har har har har har and har. Mother Nature is laughing hard at those of us who mistakenly thought that winter was over. She’s laughing so hard that her sides hurt. Mother Nature is a large woman, full of largess. She also doesn’t take no shit from no one; although the assault on her planet has worn her out considerably. She keeps going, in part because there are many of us that know full well that environmental concerns are our most pressing priority.

I presumed that this was going to be another squall. I presumed wrong. The snow is supposed to keep falling for the next few days. This, I think, will put everyone in a somber mood.

Brian on way to Knik glacier

This is why Mr. Sun is our Bright Lights Book Project logo. His image is indicative of the fact that book re-use is central to saving trees. We don’t need for trees to be the exclusive source of books.

It’s been snowing all day. It started mid-morning. My plan was to go riding when I got home this afternoon (I salvaged books in the morning and attended a BLBP board meeting in the afternoon). I then decided that this is not riding weather.

I do worry because this is wet, heavy snow. It’s not good for horses if the temperature drops.

Tomorrow is Easter. I have three boxes of holiday books. I pulled out the Easter themed books and I put them out yesterday, on the table. They were all taken. All of them had bunny themes. I could have found more rabbit books but didn’t think about it.

I thought instead about salvaging books – it was a very small haul; I think because readers instead chose to donate books to the Palmer Public Library sale. This is a good thing.

Right now, I am reading The Bird Man of Alcatraz. This is a truly amazing book – I had previously thought that Robert Straud, the bird man, had taken on a bird or two when he was incarcerated in Alcatraz. Instead, when he was in prison in Leavenworth, he acquired a few sparrows, then a few canaries, then set to learning all that there was to learn about songbirds. I am now at the point in the book where he’s been wrested away from Leavenworth, and his birds, and sent to Alcatraz.

I know how it is going to end. His final punishment is going to be to live in solitary, in Alcatraz, with no birds to care for.

This was a man who all along had very bad luck. There is no compassion, kindness, or concern on the part of prison administrators. This book was published in 1955. It could come out last week.

I have a book he wrote about birds – I am next going to read it. At least Robert Straud was judicious in writing books and recording his findings. Otherwise, what he learned would have been lost.

Next: 98. 4/9/23: All’s Quiet on the Homefront