I’ve heard said about anticipation that this is something that’s more embedded in our consciousness than is the actual event. Today’s events got me wondering about the nature of anticipation. I actually live by it. This often motivates me to keep going. Yes, something to look forward to is what keeps me going and sometimes reduces anxiety.

The events themselves sometimes fall short of my expectations. Today was one of those days. I, for some odd reason, was looking forward to going to the Bell Kid’s Consignment sale and looking over and putting the books in boxes. I think I was looking forward to this because I needed something easy to look forward to.

This morning I went to the fairgrounds and talked with Bethany, the organizer, about event particulars. The sale had been going on for three days but there were still a lot of clothes, toys, and household items for sale.

We walked over to the book table. Bethany explained that children who left were given books and that they were told they were from the Bright Lights Book Project. As Pete later said when I told him about this, not good because the books weren’t cleaned or stamped. Oh well.

There were about 13 boxes of books left on the table. I put thirteen boxes that I’d brought with me under the table. I agreed to come back at 3:00 p.m., which I did. I brought Deb, another volunteer, with me. I immediately saw that there was a problem and this was that all our boxes were gone. I looked around further and saw that our boxes were being used by those packing up other items.

I told one individual that we needed our boxes back, and she began stuffing her box contents into clear garbage bags. She told others and they did the same. I did feel inconvenienced but was surprised that those who’d decided to use them were so agreeable.

Well, Deb and I began putting the books on the table in the boxes. I took the books out of the boxes with lids and off the tables and put them in our boxes. When done, Deb and I began pulling the price tags, labels, and blue tape off the books and repacked them.

I’m not sure at what point it began, but those dismantling the racks and such began dropping the metal poles on the concrete floor. The sound was deafening. To add insult to injury, those working on this aspect of take down had ear buds, which are silencers.

By now my day was ruined. So much, I thought, for looking forward to packing up books. All I wanted by now to do was to get out of Raven Hall. Pete finally showed up and drove his truck into Raven Hall. Of course, he and Deb both wanted to hang out and chat with the workers. I just wanted to get the hell out of that place, which is what I did.

Next: 266. 10/6/26: The Ripple Effect