It rained hard last night and the wind blew hard, intermittently. The rain started coming down at about 8:00 p.m. I suggested, and Pete agreed, that we should put the rain blankets on the horses. They are bright orange in color and made of Cordura. They are perfect for the kind of weather we are having, temperatures being in the upper 30s and low 40s.

We also opened up the enclosure gate, so the horses could stay in the shelter area between the two hay stalls if they wished. I put hay in this area, so as to encourage this. They did stay put as was evidenced by the fact that this morning the poop was outside the shelter area. I had not shoveled this area, so I had to dig in the remaining snow for those precious nuggets.

Belize photo

I left the blankets on. Pete and I headed to town early, so that I could get the books to the Senior Center and also attend the reading group meeting. I was in a bad mood until noon or so – it just seemed like too many diverse demands were being placed on me.

The Alaska Public Radio reporter, decided to bow out of doing a story on the Bright Lights Book Project. She said that she wanted to get interviews in Palmer and Bethel, which is of us packing boxes and the boxes arriving at their destination. Now I explained to her that it would be impossible to know when the books arrived in Bethel because they are going Ground Rate – the post office clerks could not tell us when they might get there. She said she’d talk to her editor and later emailed me and said that she can’t do a story at this time.

I felt frustrated because I could not explain to her that, yes, there is a really good story here because she convinced herself that no, there is no story. I am going to leave this alone, but perhaps find another APRN reporter who might be interested in writing about the Bright Lights Book Project Books to Villages program.

My day was brightened a bit by the arrival of Susan, a volunteer, who brought with her a standing desk, for me. I didn’t have a desk. Now I do. I was of course touched by her generosity.

The afternoon was hectic. Lois came and categorized books, Daphne and Andre came and picked out books for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Jamie came and cleaned books, and Meredith came and got books that she is taking to Belize. The latter is enabling us to keep our international status.

And I spent the rest of my time boxing up books that are going to various villages, Coffman Cove in Southeast Alaska included. Pete weighed these boxes and put shipping labels on them. Tomorrow or the next day, off they go.

Tonight, when we got home, I tended to the horses. I removed Tyra and Hrimmi’s blankets. I didn’t have to remove Raudi’s blanket. The snaps weren’t fastened, so it was on the ground.

Next: 8. 1/8/25: Five, five, five