“Deal, just deal,” those who play cards might say. Picture it, card players who live off the grid, playing cards with headlights. Some spend their time sitting under special lights. Some drink. Some watch videos. Some argue, endlessly. Some make love. Some . . .

You get the idea. In the past, I have focused on a particular area of study and spent my time reading and thinking. This winter, at least thus far, I seem to lack focus. In part this is due to my having, ahem, medical issues. I’ve been reading widely, exploring differing subject areas.

Files

I think that I am going to focus on animal behavior again. I have been reading Jane Goodall’s book, Reasons for Hope the past few days. The print in this book is large, and there is space between the lines. This makes this book more inviting.

The book is a memoir, one in which Goodall, using life example to bolster her claims, advocates for animal, ecological, and social change. The book culminates in her advocating the elimination of animal-based research.

I didn’t learn anything new in reading this book – I’m familiar with Goodall and the good work she continues to do. And I don’t believe in the concept of hope. But my spirits are uplifted knowing that Goodall feels as I do – that there are too many people in this world, and that we must, for our sake and the sake of the animals, take better care of our planet.

I will read more like books on this subject this winter.

I’m also in the midst of Book Project organizational throes. All I can say is that the project mushroomed, and to such a degree that it threw me into a state of organizational disarray. I’m now going through my files and will set up an organizational system that will enable me to stay more organized.

Did Jane Goodall have this problem? I think not. But if she did, she must have fell woefully behind because she didn’t live in the northern latitudes, where the darkness descends well before it should.

I am going to get a Rolodex. I could, I suppose, put everything in order on computer, but I am the generation caught between two others. The one that’s completely computer literate and the one that’s not. (Whoa, this is a huge realization.)

I distrust the idea of putting everything on computer. At the same time, I am a very visual person, and as such, I need to see the information at hand. Hence, the Rolodex idea. I will be able to turn the knobs and flip through the cards and locate needed information. This is the premise behind computers, but it’s just a premise.

Give me paper. Give me ink. Give me depth of field.

I think I’m starting to get better. If I get better, I will also resume doing body awareness work. Yes, this is what I do in the dark, which is to putter mentally.

Next: 318. 11/19/22: It’s you Again