I’d be good for 31 days, keeping track of the number of days past the new year. Come February, I’ll lose count.

I can’t say it was the best of days. I can’t say it was the worst of days. I can say it was both.

Early this morning I woke up, and after eating my oatmeal (that Pete made), I checked my email. There was a message from Russ, the fellow who was selling the two lots behind the Meeting House.

Bea and Logan

We had begun negotiations with our realtor and were waiting to hear from him and his realtor. I suspected that something was amiss when after a month, there was no communication. Oh oh. Trust woman’s intuition Pete.

So his email saying that he was not selling the property did not take me aback. It is now 12 hours since I got his message. I think I’ve handled it pretty well – I have not thrown things around or taken out my extreme disappointment on Pete. This is something that I would have done in the past. Instead, I carried on with my day.

I have pretty much figured out that things are going to remain as they are – books will come in, and books will go out, and I will continue to lead the fray.

I went to town and met Logan Dillinger and his wife Lynsey at the Meeting House. He’s our videographer extraordinaire. I presumed that we’d just talk about the project, that I’d provide him with an update.

Instead, Logan did a video shoot, with Lynsey assisting him. I met Lynsey a year ago – she introduced me to Logan. She was a Head Start teacher, and she brought several Head Start staff to check out the books. It was then hard to tell, but Logan was blown away by the project particulars.

Lynsey, Logan, and I have become friends. We did talk for over two hours, as first the pair set up equipment for the interview. They moved the bins in the library room, so that they’d had enough room to do the shoot. They set up lights and adjusted the sound equipment.

Lynsey did a wonderful job of setting me at ease. She had six carefully thought out questions, which she showed me beforehand. And when I was being interviewed, she was very encouraging, making me feel like my questions were on the right track.

Talking with these two very intelligent people was a confidence booster. I have been feeling like a has been, and like I have failed at most things that I’ve set out to do. We talked about many things – including the creative process, and how Logan went about making his two full length videos, “Moose: The Movie,” and “Sudsy Slim Rides Again.” And we talked about their basement home – weather has kept them from moving in.

We talked for two hours and fifteen minutes, a long time. And later, I got to thinking that if it were not for the project, I would not have had this most amazing conversation with two individuals that I hope, sometime, I’ll get to know better.

So yeah, it was an up and down day.

Next: 7. 1/7/23: Making Lemons out of Lemonade