The foliage is now very lush. The leaves on the trees and the surrounding brush is dark green. Insects of all kinds are buzzing around. The wild geraniums are in full bloom. The dandelions are now white fuzz. The cottonwood trees were sending off white, snow-like seeds, but this is all about over.

And the southcentral Alaska monsoon season is in full swing. It rains hard, it rains soft. It rains morning, mid-day, and night.

I don’t mind it. I just regret that I didn’t get much riding in, in June, when the sun was shining softly. It’s easier to get work done, but this is not the point.

I spent a few hours today with Kora and Mike, figuring out what we’ll be doing the next few weeks. We came up with a plan, one that will take us to the end of this venture.

Summer in the Park(s) was a good idea, in theory. And in terms of planning it was a huge success, the success only matched by the high degree of ambition. I pause.

We had a good time planning what we are going to do the next few weeks. However, I found myself feeling as though I’m now at the 18 mile point of a marathon. I know that I will finish. I will not finish in a record but rather a respectable time. And I will be pleased to have come up with an idea and carried it out.

It was a part of a bigger plan, getting these books from various sources, organizing them, using them as a part of a curriculum, then taking the remainder to and distributing them at the Alaska State Fair. Indeed, this denotes a considerable amount of ambition. Yes, books are going into the hands of appreciative readers, even as we speak.

That there is an end in sight is a relief. If this was to go on for an indefinite amount of time, I would by now have considered other options.

And there is the regular work that’s needing to be done. Today approximately 40 boxes of books came in – and books are not going out fast enough. Distributors are slacking.

The books to Kenya are now in Kenya, and I seriously doubt that they’ll be coming back. The shipping company wants to be paid, but they never gave us a shipping price quote. Martha in Kenya is hoping for a miracle. She has a direct connection with God, so this is probably going to work out. I champion those who have these connections.

How come I don’t have this connection? How is it that some do and the rest of us don’t? Faith was never an option. And it will never be an option. And I don’t believe that I’m more of less happy than those who have faith.

I think that we all end up going to the same place; that is, we dissipate into the universe.

Me, I gotta go and clean the horse pen.

Next: 192. 7/16/26: Three weeks left