Sometimes there are project lulls, times in which little seems to be happening. Then boom, all the sudden, there is too much going on. I am learning to love the lulls the way Dr. Strangelove loved the bomb. There the books sit. There the bomb sits.

It’s now the third round of the holiday season. The first round was Thanksgiving. The second round was Christmas. The third round is New Year’s. Like Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve is an entire day. The logic behind this continues to confound me.

Most people taper off on work-related activities right before the second round of the holiday season and do not resume the same until after the third round, hence, the lull.

Page Two

Pete and I have taken advantage of this particular frame of mind by continuing to get work done. He finished the National Bank of Alaska grant work last night and sent the remaining information (which included a w-9 form) on to Robbie, who has a company called Grants Pro. She has been working on this particular grant for free.

The grant grand finale was an annual report – Pete started working on this two nights ago, at about 10:30 a.m. I would have done this, but I instead have been putting my energies into Shelf Life. I briefly envisioned writing a continuous lengthy narrative about the past year and including a few photos. Pete envisioned the opposite – he envisioned including several photos and writing a continuous short narrative about the past year.

What he finally came up with blew me out of the water. He did an excellent job of combining prose and photos. I could not have done better. And last night he sent this on to Robbie.

Robbie sent all the required documentation on to the powers that be at the First National Bank of Alaska. This morning she and I got emails saying that our grant application had been received and that they’d look at it and get back to us in February.

And today a woman named Meredith stopped by the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel. She’s taking our banner, bookmarks, and Spanish/English books back to Belize, where she and her husband Gary spend a part of the year. I half jokingly said that I’d like to go down to Belize. I don’t think that she thought I was serious until I said that I was serious.

I nearly didn’t say anything because the prospect is daunting. I haven’t done any overseas travel in a long time. And I know nothing about Belize except for the fact that it’s warm. This was enough for me to sign on. Meredith met Pam who came in as she was leaving. After, I ran the idea of our both going down there past her. Pam responded in the affirmative.

So now our going to Belize is a distinct possibility. We pass out books there and we will really be an international organization.

Lulls really aren’t lulls. They are just an illusion because at this time, one idea or another is being considered.

Next: 357. 12/29/23: Three more day