I know where this month went. The final two weeks were eaten up by being at the Alaska State Fair. One more day, then clean up, then back to doing the regular job.

The fair routine was pretty straightforward, it was simply by any means possible, to get books into the hands of appreciative fairgoers. A handful of volunteers and I and Pete were successful in this endeavor.

I heard this on the radio – you can’t change a circumstance; you can respond to it. This statement was made last week on “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” an NPR show. The person interviewing the interviewee moved on, back to joke land. However, this statement stuck with me.

I have, while at the fair, been in several situations in which I responded in this fashion. Right now, I’m so tired that I can’t remember any of them.

Cindy and Alli Gator Storytime

Oh yes. It appeared, again, that the Winek Barn was going to be filled with the other program’s volunteers. Knowing this, I came up with a plan, which was to first do my distributing and sorting, then return to the hotel. This way would not have had to pay attention to others.

I did this today, and with a friend, distributed books.

Vicki (volunteer and board member) said that she’d like to check out the fair, at least the red trail. So this is what we did. I left the others behind (changed the circumstance), and with Vicki, I checked out a number of things including the quilts in the Irwin barn and the reptile house.

Interestingly enough, one of the workers was standing in front of the building (with a Madagascar cockroach on her hand). She told me that Cindy, the woman who tends to the alligator, had, the night before, done a reading and was wanting to do another. She had taken books from the reptile newspaper box.

I asked if we could join her, and she agreed and told us to be back at 4:00 p.m.

So today, though it was raining, I got out there, and Vicki got out there, and Cindy got out there, and a few dozen kids got out there. This turned out to be our best story time hour.

I am now repeatedly losing my ability to stay awake. No fun. It was a long day and will be followed by another one tomorrow. Also, we were talking with the fellow who hauls horses back and forth from Florida to Alaska, and he said he’d get us into see the show. He did this, sort of. We returned to the gate area and told the ticket taker, a huge guy, that Dan told us we could come and see the show. I then walked in with Vicki following.

The show was under a tent. And the arena was the size of a round pen. So the horses knew what to do, but I must say that the horses really impressed me.

Next: 236. 9/1/25: The Grande Finale