I often wonder, what will I remember from this particular day? I don’t go back and read dispatches, maybe because there might be dissonance between what I perceived to be important on a particular day then, and what I perceive to be important on a particular day now.

Lately, its been long day with lots of details – remembering this and remembering that, in an attempt to get it right.

This morning I woke up with a plan. I rightly figured that there has to be consistency and continuity in passing out books and doing story time. So I decided to go to the red gate area, the trail on one side has the Tiny Town area, and on the other, the Kid’s Kupboard barn/display area. The red gate is where most of the people from Anchorage enter the fairgrounds.

I further decided that I would wear my Dr. Seuss hat and pass out Dr. Seuss books, and have Pete tell passersby about the project and further tell them that we’d have story hour at 2:00 p.m. down at the Mat-Su College cabin.

There would be no attempt to do a story time at the Kid Kupboard barn. Well, the Dr. Seuss books were a real draw I think because mothers mostly and some fathers were familiar with this author. I also had the hat, so there was that connection. The books went fast, and the parents made the connection.

A bit later, at the Mat-Su College Cabin, Pete and Micah, the librarian, passed out books to those walking by – the crowd was thick because it was a beautiful day and Sunday – and got one group together for me.

I read Yertle the Turtle – oh oh my copy was falling apart so in places I had to ad lib it. And I read a counting book about turtles.

The above makes it seem like it all went well – well, it went as well as it could, given that it was a nice day and lots gong on. They wanted food, they wanted to be amused, they wanted to purchase things they did not need – so it’s a wonder that it all went as well as it did.

In between passing out and reading books, me, Pete, and our friend Pam Meekins (who is running the Alaska State Fair recycling effort) went to Raven Hall and were interviewed by Mark Jordan who volunteers for Big Cabbage Radio. First, I put on the headphones then Pam put on the headphones, and we talked about our various nonprofits. I thought that Mark did an excellent job – he was really adept at making eye contact with me, and in this way established a good rapport with me, one that lead to continuity with the questions.

We got home late this afternoon and, believe it or not, went for a horseback ride. We got Raudi and Tyra out and took them on our trails. Both did amazingly well, on this, the first day of hunting season. There was a lot of road noise, but our trails were unpeopled.

Tomorrow, more of the same, with a bit of variation here and there.

233. 8/28/24: Figuring Out Things as I go Along