Pete’s been reading Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Slaughterhouse Five. The above is a line from this book. It went through my head several times today – an analogy is this – when I was a kid, coal boats crossed Lake Ontario at the distance. They cut right across the horizon line. This phrase, today, moved past, repeatedly, coming and going.

This day was dependent upon the plans of others. I get anxious when this happens because I like for there to be follow through. The plan was to go skiing with friends, then after, have them drop me off

Bill sweeping at VCRS after sorting

at the Park and Ride, where I’d meet up with others, who I was to assist in getting books, books that we’d bring back to the Meeting House.

Well, the plan to ski fell through, so Pete gave me a lift to the Park and Ride. I had to get a lift there because I am not comfortable driving in the dark. It’s now dark here by 4:30 p.m.

I met up with friends and we drove to Anchorage and got the books. I’d seen a photo of the room containing the books. It was a partial photo. As it turned out, there was a cargo van full of books in the living room. Some books were bagged, and some were boxed.

The book owner explained to me that she was parting with books that she’d been collecting over time. I asked and was told that she hadn’t read them all. She added that she was parting with these books because she and her husband would be moving in the near future.

We passed the books, bucket brigade style, hand to hand, from the living room to the vehicle. Daniel, Milena’s husband, is a big guy, as was the husband of the book donor. Milena, inside the van, managed to find space for them all, every single book.

The original plan was to take the books to the Meeting House but because there were so many books, we decided to take them to the U-Haul storage unit. After determining that U-Haul was closed, we decided to take the books to the Meeting House.

We unloaded the books into the front room of the Meeting House – I think the last time we had this many books on hand was when we took in the library of a woman who had just died. She had art, dog, and Arizona books.

Pete showed up as we were unloading the books, and of course gave an assist. Milena and company left. I did not say to them that I felt overwhelmed and anxious, nor did I say this to Pete.

Pete did reduce my anxiety level some, by suggesting that we go and purchase more moving/storage boxes. It was then that I had the idea that I first box up the books that we’d be taking to the high schools. We figured that because each bookcase has four shelves, that we’d part with five boxes of books per bookcase. The vocational technical students are building eight bookcases, so we’ll be parting out 40 boxes of books.

And so it goes – books in, books out, seems to now be the story of my life.

Next: 327. 11/28/22: Pit Pony