I have been putting off writing this dispatch because so much happened last night and today – I truly do not know where to begin. Plus my head is hurting. I am hoping for a miracle and for it to get better on its own.

This morning the first thing I did was check in on Ferrell and Meryl. They seemed fine. I then let Ruth, who I am now calling the Red Hen, out of her upper roost. She went after them both, once but then retreated.

I had to leave them alone all day. They were fine when I got home; although the Red Hen does seem haggard. She even let me pet her. So I wonder if she is going to check out soon. I hope not. Three is a good number when dealing with chickens.

I worked for a while this morning, then at 11:30 a.m., I went over to Jenski’s and picked up my vehicle. Pete had brought it in for an oil change. Newer cars, you can no longer change your own oil, and it is expensive.

From there I went to the Butte and visited Mary and Mario. Mario has ALS – he does not look good, but he was sitting up and alert. He apparently has ALS -- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. As the disease advances, muscle weakens and atrophy, which leads to difficulty with moving, speaking, breathing, and swallowing (dysphagia). Dysphagia makes it difficult to eat. At the same time, people with ALS burn calories at a faster rate than average. As a result, they lose weight rapidly and become malnourished.

This seems to describe Mario. The sad thing is, his wife Mary is Mario’s primary caretaker and quite obviously has a great deal of work to do, tending to him. But her spirits are good. I think that Mary’s love for Mario is unconditional – she does not complain – she just takes good care of him.

I’m going to visit the pair regularly because this is the right thing to do.

I took a photo of the Alaska Almanac that was sitting on their coffee table. Mario had written his name with a magic marker, in large letters, on the side of the book. I picked it up and looked inside and saw that he had, with pen in hand, underlined much of the text.

Both talked about the importance of the book program in their lives. And I thought, this is why I do this.

I continued on my distribution route, stopping first and checking out the little library at the Matanuska River Park. The campground entrance was blocked off with picnic tables, which means closed for the season, so perhaps I should retrieve the books.

I next went to the Big Dipper Ice Cream shop, and I was filling the bookcase when one of the clerks came over and said he liked what I was doing. I told him about Mario and showed him the photo of the book that I took. I asked him if he wanted to be a bookcase guardian, and he said yes. I got him a box of books, and in exchange, he gave me an ice cream cone. Now this was a first.

Lastly, we had a meeting of the literacy committee. All I can say is wow. We now have momentum. Good things are happening on this front.

Tonight Pete and I agreed that I will do this job for a year with pay and at the same time train someone else to do it. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Next: 250. 9/17/25: Happy Birthday to Me