That’s how much daylight we are now getting back. This means that next Saturday, we’ll have 35 more minutes. Today I left the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel at 4:00 p.m. and was home by 4:30 p.m. Pete got home five minutes after me. We had just enough daylight on hand to get Raudi and Tyra out. We headed up trail, did Siggi’s trail, didn’t do Peaches Loop or the Tin Can Trails. The sun was below the tree line as we came down Jim’s Road and headed home.

We put the horses away. I cleaned the pen, using the headlight. Come next week, if we keep to the same schedule, we’ll be able to ride a half hour more. And I am going to make sure that I leave the hotel with enough time to get in a good ride.

Today was pretty amazing. I really enjoy being busy. Then again, I also enjoy being not busy. The workday began with a fundraiser meeting. It was déjà vu all over again as this meeting was much like the one we had last year. There are not very many of us fundraising, so Pete and I will be doing the bulk of the work. I am going to add this bulk to my other bulk, and, yes, somehow this bulk will also get done.

I get this feeling when I am working that I am working and when I am working I am getting more done than if I am not working. This makes sense to me. In other words, I best keep what Allen Ginsberg calls my “queer shoulder to the wheel.”

An hour into the meeting, one of the BLBP volunteers, Scott, showed up and I put him to work cleaning and stamping books. He is a very cheerful fellow, and although disabled, easy to work with. Then in came Alexi and Melissa, the two high schoolers – we talked some about the books going to Kenya – I told them that we need to find a freight shipper who will assist in getting the books from Tacoma, WA to Carrollton, TX. I added that I did find one shipper who does charitable donations – and I gave them the list of others.

What gave us all a major boost was our starting to pack up the boxes. This was good because, amazingly, we are running low on books. In five years I have yet to see this happen. In a way, this is bad because a low inventory means that there’s a decline in quality. But it’s good because there are books that are good that are on upper shelves. They are consequently moving out.

Scott worked well with Melissa and Alexi – I was relieved. You just never know how it’s going to go.

The books that are supposed to have come to us from Kodiak have not yet arrived. I would like it if they came tomorrow and Pete and I were able to do a road trip to Anchorage. This would be a nice break from doing the same old book same old.

Yes, breaks are a good thing.

Next: 25. 1/26/26: Go, go go