I said today to the waitress at Turkey Red that it was spring. She looked at me with disbelief and said that she felt cheated because there was not much of a winter. It is true, I wore my Refrigirware suit just once or twice this winter. And Pete only plowed once. And during the past month, the temperatures were such that the horse and goat water has not froze up, meaning that we’ve had to fill the buckets once instead of twice a day. I say we – Pete was doing this and then had carpal tunnel surgery, leaving me to take on this chore.

Summer is coming

Twice a day would have been too much. Cleaning the enclosure in finger numbing weather would also have dampened my mood, particularly if this was during the past few weeks. So warmer temperatures have made life easier than usual around here.

I do know that climate change is responsible for the higher than average temperatures, and this is worrisome. I have to keep this in mind in order to temper my euphoria.

It was one of those days where I fretted about what was to come – I saw a major hurdle, but after clearing it, I thought that it was not all that large. I had a dental appointment. I got my teeth cleaned. I learned that I have two cavities. They are under bridges and will need to be filled. Way better than having the bridges dismantled and getting at the cavities this way.

I joked, and no one got it – that my mouth is like the Seward Meridian Highway, which I have to drive on in order to get to the dentist’s office. There is a lot of construction going on there now, easily navigable, but there is a lot of equipment, roadside machines, and the like in the one mile stretch to the turn. This is a very good analogy. My mouth has many bridges and implants and the like, and it seems to require maintenance.

So I will be using the water pick, flossing, brushing, and then dosing myself with fluoride. And I will do this because I do not want additional construction/destruction to take place.

I headed on to town – next stop, Colony High School where I was to drop off books for a BLBP bookcase. No problem with getting into the school lot, dropping off the books and getting out of the school lot. On to the Palmer High School pool where I distributed books and then went for a swim. Five quick up and back laps.

Back at the hotel – there are no more lulls. I can now always expect it to be busy. This is a truism. We had a meeting with Jessie from the Mat-Su Health Foundation and began making plans for future funding.

Meanwhile, I was alternately in on the discussion and dealing with people, one wanting Native books, another wanting to show me her book art, another wanting to talk about his personal woes, and another, this a good friend, wanting to spend some time with me. I did it all and after, packed up 13 boxes of books that are going to Nome.

And all day, to me, it felt like spring.

Next: 79. 3/20/25: First Day of Spring