Some have told Pete and me that we need to scale back our book project efforts. Hearing this, we’ve both looked at one another askance. The question that we then asked ourselves is, how might we do this? We don’t want to remove bookcases – if we did this, we’d defeat our purpose, which is to get books into the hands of appreciative readers.

We can’t start to refuse books because then they’d end up in the dump. No, we can’t go backwards, so instead we’ll continue to move forwards.

I did work on Shelf Life today, writing out the next chapter by hand, this being about the move. I’m next going to write about the formation of the board – or about nonprofit boards in general. I want people to know how boards work, and in the case of books that they are an alternative to independent bookstores.

Today I stocked the Lekker Bakery bookcase at midday. I’d filled it a week ago last Saturday. The bookcase swallowed five or so bins of books. The place was packed, and so was Kombucha, which is adjacent to the bakery. And the bookcase in Kombucha also needed more books.

Pete and I also stocked the Big Dipper ice cream bookcase, which was as empty as was the Lekker Bakery bookcase. I thought that the ice cream shop would be a hard sell, but apparently, it’s a big hit.

The sun shone brightly, so it was a go for Friday Fling. I was to be there and help the one volunteer there today, but I was slow in getting there. I first met with Sharon, a costume designer who is outfitting everyone involved in the parade. She made an incredible hat and sandwich boards and is going to decorate four wagons. She is 79 and is with Harry Banks, an equally talented photographer and creative.

I just enjoy being with the two. Sharon is going to make sure that we have a class act at the Parade.

I next went over to the depot where the quilters were working on making quilts. The room is large and there are many tables, enough for the upteen quilters who spend considerable time there.

The place was so peaceful and calm – I didn’t want to leave. I just wanted to keep talking to my friend Jana and another quilter. But of course, they needed to get back to work, so I headed in the direction of the Palmer Visitor’s Center. There I ran into Logan, our videographer, his wife Lindsey and their 19 month of son Lief.

Lindsay has been dealing with an illness, so the pair has not gotten out much lately. I do hope that I see more of them.

Friday Fling. Story Hour. I read to five children, one little girl in particular was very attentive to both books – the Ding a Ling and the Three Billy Goats Gruff. We had a really good time with the latter – we talked a lot about the troll under the bridge that wanted to eat the goats. I figured that this story was where someone came up with the idea of troll booths.

Next: 154. 6/6/25: Late at Night