This is what I do not like about the darkness. This morning, at 8:00 a.m., when I was pen cleaning, it was dark. And this evening, at 6:00 p.m., when I was pen cleaning, it was dark. I was not able to see my horses. And picking up poopy by the orb of a headlight just doesn’t cut it.

Of course, if I’d stuck around today, I would have had a few hours of daylight in which to (at the very least) commune with my animals. But no, I went to town and did what I thought had to be done. I did this in spite of the fact that I still have a cold. It is much like an unwanted guest that won’t come out of the bathroom. I have now missed out on sleep five nights in a row. And I’m now dragging myself around like a child drags around a rag doll. Picture it – the child dragging the doll around by its hair.

I got Pete and Robert to move three pallets of books from the Mat-Su School District Warehouse to the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel. Now that I think of it, this, in its entirety, was a major accomplishment. First of all, I responded to Angela’s email, that she had books for us, then within a few hours was on site, sorting them out. I next sorted through, reboxed the books, and got them on three carts, without hurting myself.

The most impressive part just might be that, lastly, I got assistance from the guys. I got to the warehouse at 9:15 a.m. (Yes, it was still dark) and they appeared on site at 9:30 a.m. They were both of good cheer, and because I’d done the preliminary work, they were able to move the goods from point A to Point B in a short amount of time. And after, Robert even had time to vacuum.

My staying on top of things organizationally is one reason why the BLBP has been so successful. The other reason is that others have risen to the occasion. If others had not taken an interest in this project, it would now be defunct.

I now realize that I neglected to mention this to Hilary Morgan, who is now our consultant. We met with her today, for the first time, and I found her to be forthright, direct, and experienced in dealing with nonprofits like ours. She, Pete, and I brainstormed about site possibilities while eating lunch at the Sunset grill, located in the historic Eagle Hotel. The meeting lasted two hours. Lunch was sucky. But we got work done.

All I could think (and I seem to think this a lot) is that I have my work cut out for me. I keep telling myself that time is expendable, and to a certain extent it is. The trick is to realize that all that is to be done doesn’t have to be done all at once. What’s to be done is incremental.

Next: 330. 12/4/24: Keeping Good News Under my Hat