This is what Mother Nature now does. It was overcast, with some rain today. I came home at midday and took the dogs for a walk. I lucked out because it was not raining or overly windy. Going around the loop made me realize how much I miss being here.

It is time now to find others to take on the multitude of tasks that I have been doing. I will always give an assist here or there, but I cannot and will not keep up my current pace.

It’s odd. I am not 20 years old and thinking that I have 40, 50, 60, or even 70 good years ahead of me. And I am not seen as an individual who people think have 40, 50, 60, or 70 years ahead of me. And so, supposedly, my most productive years are behind me.

I do not think that I could be doing what I’m doing if I was 20 years old. And I suspect that I would not want to have been doing what I was doing when I was 20 years old.

So one of my jobs is to find and work with people who are as committed as I am to this project. This now makes sense to me.

I am will remain an idealist. I feel that there are book/print readers out there, and the number will not diminish if programs like this one take off and become the norm.

Today I felt as if this were possible. Early, the sun had just come up, Pete and I met Dan who came from an undisclosed location and assisted him in unloading five pallets of books into our U-Haul unit. I had not seen it since Pete and Robert had reorganized the remaining books. All I can say is wow – those five pallets fit right into the unit.

I next went to the hotel and worked (among other things) getting ready for the afternoon volunteer’s efforts. Then at noon, I went to the weekly Rotary meeting. The dog unit of the Mat-Su Search and Rescue team were present. Their incident commander gave a brief talk. There were close to a dozen SAR people present and 4-5 dogs.

I felt a pang, recalling my involvement with the organization. I asked a fellow with a great Pyrenees mix a few questions and attempted to tell him about my search and rescue background. He wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say. I was reminded that this organization consists of people who have an elitist attitude. I would too, if I was a member.

In the afternoon I stopped at Palmer City Hall and asked if I could bring in books for those in the Y-K Delta and was told sure – they’d love to have books. So I had an idea that came to me as shortly thereafter, I was walking the dogs, and this was, to box up twelve boxes of books and take them there tomorrow. I also figured that I’d donate my time and perhaps on Sunday pack up the goods for shipment.

I felt like the city hall people were skeptical, but I am going to follow through with this tomorrow.

Next: 280. 10/17/25: Whomp