I can’t keep good news under my hat because I constantly lose hats. This pains me, the part about losing hats. I’m doing better than I used to and not losing gloves as often. This may because the weather is warmer and I’m not removing them as much. Plus, as I said in a previous dispatch, my current gloves are bright orange. I’m also wearing my green John Deere gloves. I thought I’d lost them, but I recently found them in the sleeves of my coat.

We are right now in the midst of a what I am going to call a warm snap. This is opposite of a cold snap, and a phrase that I’ve never before heard used.

This warm snap is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, 35 F plus temperatures seem to be absolutely balmy. On the other, if it gets cold and home fuel costs go up, people may move. They might also decide to heat with wood and take out more trees.

Dog and Pony

Grr, grr, grr. The tree cutters were out in force last weekend. I really feel for the trees. What a barbaric thing to do, cut down trees, put them up in homes, decorate them, then discard them. Far better to get an artificial tree although they really do look tacky, or use a live tree in a pot. Far better still to get no trees at all and come up with a less environmentally damaging alternative.

So I spent a better part of my day (and it was a better part) sorting through the holiday books, putting those that the Iditarod school children are going to be taking in bins, and the rest on a bookshelf that after the holidays will go to a local school, I think Shaw Elementary.

I had time so I carefully examined each one and read more than a handful. Okay. Looking at all these books did not get me in the holiday spirit, but looking at them did make me more cognizant that this is the holiday season. In the past, bright lights did the same thing. Now its books, and this is not such a bad thing.

I really enjoy the Good Dog Carl books. Good Dog Carl is a Rottweiler, and he is a caretaker for the family toddler. Together, they go off on adventures, for instance, to a daycare center, and to a masquerade party. They also go on a Christmas outing. The toddler’s parents, who go off on their own adventures, are happily oblivious to the fact that dog and child are also out and about.

These books have probably salvaged the reputation of many a Rottweiler.

The good news that I can’t keep under my hat because I lose hats does have to do with the BLBP. Our finding a permanent home for the project has been an ongoing activity for some time. There are now so many stories. It seems like so long ago, that we were wanting to purchase the Meeting House and adjacent land.

I won’t say what might come to be because I might jinx the outcome. We’ll see.

Next: 331. 12/5/24: Going Sideways