The way I look at it, there is a solstice plateau, a timespan of about a week when it is as dark as its going to be. Right now, we are on the plateau. I say, “so little time, so little light.”

I have been so focused lately that I have not spent much time with my horses. I am beginning to feel some angst about this, and I hope soon to change the situation. The small window of daylight is what makes this most difficult. I have to make getting them out a priority, and if I don’t, I have missed my golden hour of opportunity.

Today, a good example/a bad example. I did the morning chores, was finishing up by tending to the chickens when a car pulls into the driveway. A woman from Talkeetna came to drop off five boxes of books, books that formerly belonged to a VCRS board member. This woman, Becky, said that she was looking for anatomy and physiology texts. I told her that coincidently, yesterday, I had organized the science section.

The next thing I know I was on my way with her to the Meeting House. There I spent the remaining daylight hours.

We walked in on the end of church service; those attending were exchanging gifts. Becky and I ended up taking seats and participating. I ended up with a pair of socks knit by Marti, who is a member of the Friday knit pickers group.

I think that Becky was surprised by all the ho hah. Hard to say. She was sociable, but quiet.

We next went into the room with all the books, and she left for home with a full box of books. Mission accomplished. I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting all the books that materialized yesterday.

Sarah, who is the church pastor, and I spoke briefly before she left. The bad news is that the project will have to find a new home in March, when our funding runs out. She said that they are expecting that other groups will again be wanting to use the house. I suspect that, also, my supposed footprint wasn’t small enough. Keeping all those books in the same area has been near impossible. For instance, there are the National Geographics that Milena dropped off; they are in the front area. I keep hoping that the Palmer prison will come through and take them off my hands.

An analogy – this project sometimes feels like a house of cards. I add another layer and the bottom layers wobble some. A stiff breeze, it could wipe out the entire structure.

I said to Pete that I was ready to give up on this. Pete says “no” and continued to brainstorm. And he did come up with a few options, which we’ll look into in the next few days.

In the meantime, tomorrow Sarah’s bookcase and selected books are headed to the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles. To which I say, forward ho.

Next: 351. 12/20/21: Light and Dark