Another day out on the Bright Lights Book Project circuit. Most days are quite good. Actually, all the days are good. Sometimes I perceive them to be not so good when they are good. My bad attitude (one of my most unwelcome buddies) sometimes rears his ugly head and forces me to see the downside of things. Lately, Bad Attitude has been on vacation. I think he’s in California where the wind is blowing hard, and the rain is falling hard.

Today, I was accompanied by Good Attitude. The first stop on my route was the Palmer Senior Center. There I talked for a long time with the woman running the gift shop, about her past experiences running a job placement program for teenagers. Light bulbs were going off as we talked – she may end up being a major support person when we get our literary center going.

Holly and kids clean books

An aside – I like the idea of a literacy center, and I see how it would be beneficial to those in our community. But I’m not there yet. I feel as though I need to remain focused on further refining the book salvaging and distribution program. But others are wanting to move forward on the literacy center, so I am paddling out behind them, to the distant wave. I’ll ride it when the time comes.

I next went and got gas at the Tesoro station. Why, you are wondering, am I writing this down? The answer is because this is one of my least favorite things to do. I am making it less stressful by going to the one station where I don’t have to deal with being in the front or back of a line. Today there was a fellow ahead of me. I made disparaging faces at him, as he simultaneously filled his tank and talked on his cell phone. Then at the last minute, I alerted him to the fact that he had not put his gas cap back on his tank. Har har.

Next stop was the Meeting House. I’d left the work areas in a state of disarray yesterday because I knew that I’d have a few days before I’d have to put things away. I also suspected that I’d get an assist and I did.

Holly Anderson and her wonderful children, all four, came and gave me a much-needed assist. They cleaned and stamped all the Alaskana books, so now I have kids books ready to send to villages on the Iditarod trail. I also have Alaskana books ready to put out on the shelves when tourist season arrives.

Holly and Company made quick work of the project, saving me a lot of time.

I hope that I came across as being really grateful. I truly was. She said something interesting and that what she and her family were doing is called service. I never thought about this before, but kids like those in Holly’s family learn that there is great joy to be had in giving others an assist. And I am learning this as I continue to get books into the hands of appreciative readers.

Next: 5. 1/5/23: Premature Aging