The cabin, late at night, saying “what a day, what A day, WHAT a day, What a DAY,” now more out of habit when previously I did this out of wonderment. Still, I am always amazed when, late at night, I get anxious about the following day, and then the following day, everything goes smoothly.

Today was the second day the fair was closed. It’s closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which is fine but not so fine in that it is open on Saturdays and Sundays. So for me, there is no weekend.

Right now, it’s late and I foresee another five days with no break. I know I should pace myself, but this is very difficult because even though there are volunteers, I still am carrying the weight of this project on my shoulders.

I thought of this this morning, when I had time to think about it. It was quiet in the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel. I cut this month’s article out of the People’s Paper so that I might pass it on to fair visitors. Then I colored the Squalor Holler bee jar labels, adding Bee a Reader and Bright Lights Book Project.

We have done very well with earned media, never at all having paid for advertising.

Then they started rolling in, the people – Sharon Peek dropping off derbies for the hats, Leslie coming in to work, Natalie needing to sign up for volunteer hours, Colton dropping by to talk about his journalism internship, 13 hours a month with us. He’s invested in the project, and eager to do a lot of things, including put up social media posts.

Dan came and got the car and went to Title Wave and returned with books – he later showed me his latest acquisition, a Snorkel hot tub water heater. I told Pete I wanted one – he paid me no mind.

Then there was a blast from my past, Heather Ashe, who I hadn’t seen in a year and a half. She came to drop off books. She joined Colton and me, Colton mainly talked about what his upcoming school year is going to be like.

Heather and I are long time horse owners/buddies. I was there when she picked out Rio, who was then two. And she was there when I first rode Raudi. Neither of us have done much riding – I vowed to change this because we both need to get our horsey lives back.

Yes, this reconnection is totally serendipitous. I am one of these people who gets what she wants in life, whether or not she wants it.

Heather brought by several bags of horse books. A few hours later, after the place cleared out, I took the books out of the bags and took a close look at them.

I can tell what people’s interests are when I look at their books. Heather’s range of horsey interest is far broader than I ever gave her credit for being. I was too judgmental to be a good friend. There’s still time for change and I am going to do this. I will be a better friend to Heather and keep in touch with her.

I’ll have more time when the 2@##$%^&* fair is over.

Next: 230. 8/27/26: Endless