A bad day is often followed by a good day. Now if there were only bad days or only good days, well then, the terms good or bad would be irrelevant. For right now, good and bad days routinely shake hands.

Yesterday was a bad day. Today was a good day. The best part took place at the Palmer Public Pool. I entered the lobby area and saw that the bookcase was a mess. This is a good thing because though there might not be many books missing, someone has been messing with the contents.

I stocked the bookcase, and in the process I saw out of the corner of my eye that a male child was on the bench, reading a book. I commended him, then went over to the window and showed the lifeguard my pass. He then said that the kids were taking the books and added that a group of parents and children came into the pool, and one mother led her children over to the bookcase and had them select books, which they did and then sat down and read.

Then, after I swam, a mother told me that having the bookcases in the community (even the DMV) was quite wonderful.

So after this, I was feeling pretty good. After, Pete and I met with a representative from the Mat-Su Health Foundation who provided us with some groundwork for our future grant endeavors. We did want funding for staffing, but grant funds to pay our bills – we’ll take it.

Jessie, who seemed to me to be amazingly astute, did say that I was carrying a “joyful burden,” which is the best way to describe it. Yep. I enjoy what I do, but there is more to do than I should have to do.

I spent the rest of the afternoon putting outgoing (happy, happy) books in boxes – and after volunteers left, I worked alone, sorting, stamping, cleaning and categorizing nonfiction books.

I came home and took Tyra and the dogs for a walk around the loop. Once again, I was blown away by the fact that our animals are so agreeable and easy to work with. Maybe this weekend I will get the agility course set up. This will be a welcome activity for them all.

It is fall and with it has come autumn smells. It’s like spring, although I am not as appreciative because I am well aware that soon enough, we are going to again be dealing with cold, wet rain and snow. (I am aware that there is no such thing as dry rain.)

So I am wondering how I might structure my days so that I can find time to both write and get the animals out? Maybe I should experiment and let the work go and see if someone else does it. The horse shit analogy again comes to mind. I am judicious about cleaning up after the horses and I am happy to say that the soles of their hooves look very good. Conversely, the book project looks good because I have been judicious about categorizing the books.

Next: 245. 9/10/25: Darkness