It was snowing this morning when I went out and tended to the horses. And it was snowing tonight when I went out and tended to the horses. I tended them before sunrise, and I tended to them after sunset. Pete was helping me out, but now he is not able to do this. I now know that carpal tunnel surgery is real surgery – it involves cutting into the tendon, sewing the hand up, and allowing the affected area to heal.

Pete can’t do anything with both hands. He may be frustrated. He’s impossible to slow down.

I’m just going to have to take this one day at a time for the next six weeks.

Today I found myself thinking – I can get Pete to lift this or that. Then I realized that he can’t lift anything. So we had Anthony, a BLBP volunteer and Robert, the BLBP president, unload the two pallets that were to sent to us by the Alaska Native Language Center in Fairbanks, into the U-Haul storage units.

Pete and I thought that the pair would be waiting for us in their respective cars when we got to U-Haul, but instead they had nearly completed the move. They did not use a pallet jack, which makes the job easier; rather, they went with the old heave ho method. Pete was unable to give an assist – I know he felt left out.

The materials – old documents pertaining to various Alaskan Native cultures. I brought three boxes back to the hotel – but I am going to have to go through the boxes one-by-one, with the list the ANLC provided to us, and figure out where I might send these materials. This will be a good learning experience for me.

Pete and I went to the Palmer Chamber of Commerce luncheon at 11:30 a.m. The food, from Turkey Red restaurant, was excellent. There were two speakers, one from Alaska Gear – I had a hard time hearing her soft voice; and a fellow from a local IT service. I tried to pay attention to what he was talking about, but computer talk does not interest me. So midway through his talk I took a nap. This got me through the afternoon.

This afternoon, a woman emailed me and said she had several boxes of First Wave/APEA books. I told her to bring them in. This was a mistake. Shades of Melina Sevigny and her Book Wave project. Somehow, Leah’s teaching union had gotten Melina’s duplicates, and of course was not able to find places for the books. We were just starting to get down there in numbers on the books that Melina had given us. Grr, grr, grr.

I worked into the early hours of the evening, sorting and then putting these books into lidless boxes. Because they’re duplicates, they will be good stamping fodder for the Mat-Su Day-School students.

Today I also had a physical therapy hydro pool session. There I met an old acquaintance, Mabel, who I talked with after my session.

Pete is now taking a shower. He taped a bag over his bandage. I told him to use the hot tub he gave me as a Christmas present. Nope, he didn’t listen.

Next: 72. 3/13/25: The Light at the End of the Carpal Tunnel