It’s been cold, but sunny. No snow, except last night for a dusting of flakes falling from the sky. I’d be riding the horses if the trails weren’t snowed in. Next time the farrier visits, we’ll get ice shoes.

Again, we are low on hay – we got ten bales last time. The rainy weather put a crimp in local hay production, and the prospect of not being able to come up with more is daunting. I hope that the rain that besot (!) us this past summer does not besot (!) us next summer.

Nearly completed bookcases

It’s good that the horses and goats are unaware of this. If they knew that there are just a few bales left, they’d panic. Their missing a meal is enough of a cause for alarm. “Trust me,” I tell them. “I won’t let you starve.” Hard to know if they believe me or not. For centuries, people have betrayed horses in various ways. So why should mine trust me? A tough call, on their past.

The news on the bright light book project front is that we now have more space in the Meeting House. We’ve occupied the first floor now, for two years. Pretty soon we’ll be occupying the basement. We are taking on the space that previously was occupied by the Palmer Arts Council.

It’s still being occupied by them, but supposedly they’ll soon be getting their stuff out of the room that has been designated as ours.

I’ve had to do some figuring, to make things work. Today I categorized the nonfiction books that were in the bins. They are dissimilar because I lumped all the books in bins, going with the categories nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. The children’s books are, and will remain, in boxes on the shelves. I’m going to do the same with the Alaskana books. The young adult books, which are in the children’s room, are going to remain there until the new bookcases are in place in schools.

The nonfiction books will be cleaned and stamped, then relocated downstairs.

It is starting to look like we’re going to go into the negative numbers with the kids’ books. They go really fast. I’m going to have to scrounge around for more.

I have taken a beating in dealing with the space/time continuum. I have had to keep books moving, so that there is enough space for them all. This includes collections; for example, I now have a number of boxes labelled Black History Month.

Having this space, as well as the U-Haul units on hand gives me much needed breathing room. Dare I say it? I might even soon be able to get two days a week off. No, I’m not a paid employee -- and I can’t imagine that I ever will be.

Chin is up. The days are again getting longer, for which no one is happier than I am.

Next: 10. 1/10/23: An Ideas Day