This is the new Bright Lights Book Project slogan. It is a variation of this year’s Alaska State Fair theme, which is Enjoy the Ride. I also decided that the story time readers are going to be called the Easy Readers. Pretty good, considering this was not an ideas day.

This was because there was too much external input. This morning, at the breakfast table, Pete and I decided to head directly to the Alaska State Fair and there distribute books. This, rather than finish working on the newspaper boxes.

Buckwheat

We rolled out of here at 10:30 a.m., which is early for us. We stopped first at the hotel and picked up the white boards for the sandwich board sign and markers for the white boards. It started to rain when we were unloading boxes of books onto the dolly. We tucked a garbage bag around the boxes, and then began distributing.

The rain kept the crowds at bay. There were in my estimation more than enough people checking out the exhibits and the eateries. It was not a happy crowd, as evidenced by the fact that when we attempted to drum up interest in the Mat-Su College Story Time, the fair goers mostly ignored us or just shook their heads, no.

Later I realized that we should have done, as Pam did, and stood on the cabin porch and read a book out loud. I will do this next time, and I’ll wear my Dr. Suess hat.

In the rain, we stocked the Tiny Town newspaper box – we were told that to rent fair space there costs a whopping $6,000.00. Mat-Su College is helping to sponsor this. I says to Pete that next year we need to hop on this bandwagon, since this is where the little children hang out. Cute, one child pushing a John Deere lawn mower. I say, get ‘em when they’re young. Today a plastic lawn mower, tomorrow a metal tractor.

The Kid’s Kupboard venue was across the way. We went into the Wineck barn and talked for a while with Matt – he owned Buckwheat who was Stormy the Goat’s gentleman caller – we talked about further partnering with Kid’s Kupboard, on Friday for example, doing a story time at noon. Me, I get to do this. Me, me, me, and sometimes Pete.

Back on the home front, I did what I had hoped to get done in the morning. I picked raspberries and broccoli. We had a very small broccoli crop, enough for dinner – and the raspberries were heavy with rainwater. Just one cabbage this year. The slugs were feasting on it, so I pulled it and removed the slugs.

This evening, I sanded the newspaper box that’s going into the bee booth, and Pete made inserts for it and for the box that’s going in front of Raven Hall. Tomorrow he’ll put sealant on the Raven Hall box and spray paint the bee box. Then, like last year, I will paint bees on the bee box.

Next: 226. 8/19/24: Huh?