Pete asked me very early this morning (it was still dark out) if I could hear the rain. I did not say, “No, I don’t have my hearing aids in.” Rather, I said, “Yes, it’s raining,” which was simply a form of agreement. The good thing about my having hearing loss is that noise doesn’t keep me awake at night.

Now it’s dark at 8:00 a.m. I prefer to tend to the animals when it’s light. That it was overcast and raining contributed to the darkness. I thought, as I headed out the door, “a person cannot take as much Vitamin D as they need in times like this.” Fortunately, Pete was very thoughtful in getting me Vitamin D tablets rather than capsules – the capsules are made of gelatin, dead cow.

I dressed, got the dog out, she went out and peed. Then I brought her back inside. Pete fed her after I left to tend to the horses. The horses were disgruntled, don’t like this weather – I fed them in their shelter, so they were momentarily happy. They like to eat and confer about the meal they are eating. It’s a very communal endeavor.

I hung out for a bit this morning after Pete left. Last night and this morning I practiced my Arctic Entry presentation. It’s coming along.

I wasn’t going to go in but decided to chance it. Pete did call and say to me that Murphy Road was slippery. He did not tell me what I was soon to discover, which is that it was sheer ice. He said to go slow and that was it. The deal is, yes, you have to go slow when conditions are like this. But at the same time, you have to maintain momentum. I kept to the middle of the road, so when I fishtailed, I went to the side of the road rather than off the road, into the snow rain slush.

I made it to Buffalo Mine Road – after Murphy, it was less stressful to navigate. And the Glenn Highway was okay although I didn’t trust it and therefore drove slowly.

Later in the day, Bill Schmidtkunz, who lives in Sutton, came to get books. He noted that the Glenn near Hilltop was treacherous and that a semi went off the road. Tonight I learned that two semis in that area went off the road.

Do two semis make a whole?

The volunteers who came in today worked well together, the joint project involved getting the front area of the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel ready for tomorrow’s Trick or Street venture. The main table now is full of books, and the area in front of the main table has two tables, which will assist with foot traffic.

The volunteers continued to work while I did my Arctic Entry dog and pony show on Zoom, this for a second time. I had my talk on notecards – I did just fine. I may end up using notecards because this is a complicated talk.

One step at a time – the next thing on the agenda is to get through Halloween.

Next: 286. 10/30/26: Unreal