I’m writing my daily dispatch early in the day because when the Foraker Group Summit is over, I will go home and assist Pete in getting his bees into their hive. Neighbors are also getting bees, so this could take a while.

I am doing what needs to be done here at the Dena'ina Center, mainly by being a visible presence. It’s hard to know if those attendees who are being friendly see me as more than a cultural oddity. I mean, here I am, in my Kuspuk and wool sweater, passing out bookmarks, and telling them about the Bright Lights Book Project.

Keith and Krista launch their bees

I wrote a poem in which I attempted to figure out why I’m here because this is not the direction that I expected my life to go in. I do agree with the role of nonprofits in terms of their focus on community betterment. However, is my heart in doing nonprofit advocacy? This is the question.

This morning was an ideas day, perhaps in part because I had an audience at my table – on one side of me was a woman who works at Providence Hospital, and on the other side was a woman who is Foraker Group staff. I showed both the path of my thinking. I think they thought that I was crackers after an hour of this.

I figured out, in listening to a presentation, that I need to strengthen our partnership with the Friends of the Palmer Library. And I am going to get a jump on this on Thursday evening when I attend the Elocution event at Swanson Elementary School.

This realization was prompted by the speaker’s focus on and/but thinking . I went ahh ha when I heard this because this was what my dissertation was about. My dissertation was failed piece of work because no one on my committee had the interest in shaping the path of my thinking. But this concept, I might now be able to put it to use.

I also realized that I must resume working on Shelf Life. The time is now/now is the time. The problem is that the story about the project is ongoing. I keep thinking that I’ve come to a good ending point then something else momentous happens.

Getting this book done and into the hands of appreciative readers will open doors. I might then be able to be a speaker at a conference like this one. And I might also be asked to give a Ted Talk. Indeed, I do have a story to tell.

I am now fighting a cold. I am winning. I’m drinking a lot of water and avoiding sweets. Tomorrow I have appointments at the dentist and Native Health Center.

There are a lot of people here and I don’t know very many of them. They also don’t know me. But they will know me if I come out with a book. How am I going to find the time to work on this?

Smoozing is an art that I have yet to perfect.

Next: 105. 4/16/25: Postnasal Drip