May is my favorite month of the year. June is a close second, and July is third. The light, the greenery, the warmth, the smell of green grass and the cottonwoods – all bring me back to life after a long winter of hibernation.

Hibernation. Doing a better job of identifying with animals makes us more appreciative of them.

I have been putting books going to Slana, Alaska in bins. They want animal books. So I have been taking a close look at animal books old and new. And I keep thinking that if kids see and read these books they’ll end up with a deeper appreciation for nature and animals.

More stories. In the afternoon, Pete and went and checked out the book collection of Sally Hitchcock, a Palmer resident who died in January at age 91. Elisa and Katie, Sally’s daughters, are parting out her possessions. This includes her book collection. The family had passed her Alaska book collection onto the Palmer library, and the family had claimed a good number of books for themselves. However, there were many good books left. Pete and I boxed them up and brought them back to the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel.

Bugge Park Little Library

At one point, upon hearing that the house was for sale, Pete said that perhaps Cheryl Chapman would be interested in purchasing it. Sometimes Pete has these ideas that resonate with me, and this was one of those times. Yes, Sally’s possessions are strewn all over. But at the same time, the house has a good feel to it. I thought, yes, this house has good karma.

I hope that this works out. It would be good to have Cheryl closer to town, both for her and for the book project. If it does, then I will say that this is serendipitous.

I do not know if it’s fate or the fact that Palmer is a small town in which everyone knows everyone else. But more odd occurrences than not have happened since I got this project going.

Unrelated, but I wonder if I wasn’t the founder and just walked into what the project is now, if I would have ended up doing volunteer work. I actually think not. I think that I would have taken books and maybe done publicity work.

Pete and I met up with our friend Susan and had dinner at a pizza place, a new place that was totally lacking in ambiance. We were the last to leave, and we left when one of the workers began drilling into brick.

We returned to the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel, and I then distributed a banker box full of books at Bugge Park, Amoosement park, and Big Dipper ice cream shop. I didn’t have to do this, but logically, I think that books on the shelves are more apt to be taken than those that are sitting in boxes in the hotel.

Tomorrow, another full but easy day.

Next: 177. 6/30/25: One Hour