I have half the equation down. I can chew it up, but I can’t spit it out. I don’t even have an analogy for this. I eat what is put in front of me these days – I seek out food and swallow whatever it is that is on my plate. A lot of times I don’t even have a plate. Oranges, energy bars, peanuts, bananas, once in a while (like tonight) pizza. Actually, I eat these foods when I am working. Pete insists that I sit down and eat two meals a day with him; breakfast and dinner. Lunch I am on my own, and therein lies a problem of sorts. I should sit down and daily eat a salad or something nutritious. It hasn’t and it won’t happen so don’t hold your breath.

Pete and Gregory at Saddle Up Arena

It’s very, very late as I am writing this. It was a long but oddly gratifying day. I estimate that this week I cleaned, stamped, and categorized at least 100 boxes of books. And tonight, when I got home, I checked for messages and some guy said he has at least 1,000 fiction books and could we come and pick them up? And at the end of his message, he laughed. It was not a guffaw, but an understated chuckle. My dog, I said to Pete after that I am not going to call him back. Pete said that he’d call him, that we are low on fiction. What Pete, who is aiding and abetting my obsessive behavior, does not realize is that we are not at all low on fiction. Most of what’s come in is fiction. I am going to have to deal further with this communicative lapse.

There was so much to do today in the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel. I just gritted my teeth at 10:30 a.m. this morning and went to it. I was interrupted at 12:00 by a couple who came to the door with two huge boxes of books. I took the boxes, but I was snarky. It was just too much for me. Then another woman showed up and I told her we don’t open until 1 p.m. and she said okay, but she did not come back. I just can’t win no matter what I do.

I worked for the next few hours with Pierre, a volunteer, because I don’t let volunteers work alone. We had a good chat. Then there was a lull, and finally Pete appeared with the weekly Title Wave books. So make it 110 boxes that I processed.

Then old friends dropped in. Brit and Gregory used to own the Saddle Up arena in the Butte. Gregory and I used to banter a lot. It was good to see the pair – Brit was before showing signs of Alzheimer’s but now is in the advanced stages. She talks and makes no sense then briefly makes sense. Gregory is her caretaker.

He is amazingly patient with her, but I think tired. She’s run off a few times and there have been major searches. This is the most amazing thing – Brit figured out what the BLBP is all about – and I passed on several books to her. I am sure she will look at them, and Gregory will encourage this. We just don’t think of people with Alzheimer’s as needing books.

Lastly, I went to a discussion group meeting – we talked about collaboration and teamwork.

Got a lot of ideas for future volunteer and board dealings.

A big day. Tomorrow will be even bigger. I would like to downsize it.

Next: 274. 10/16/26: Ohh Gosh, the Month is Half Over