Yesterday we gave away a bunch of stuff and then ran around doing errands. We drove. Both of us have noticed that we really miss walking like we used to, but we had limited time and the things we had to do took us in opposite directions, so using the truck was the wiser choice. This morning, though, we were able to do what we needed to do in town and walk. It was nice to be able to do that even though it was a little hot. The sun here is just relentless. The quality of heat and light just seem completely different than anything I have ever experienced before. Still, I had an unexpected gift of a couple of weeks of clouds and rain, so I can’t complain.
One of the things I did this morning was to stop in at the yarn shop and say good-bye to the owner. I have worked there on an occasional basis for 4 ½ years, teaching and taking care of customers when she needed an extra pair of hands. The shop opened up just a couple of months after we moved here and I was so excited. I remember how I used to wish there was a yarn shop within walking distance when I lived in Fairbanks. So I got it here instead. It was a whole new area of my life that just blossomed. It’s a good place. So is the library.
I stopped in there yesterday to talk to the people I used to work with in the Circulation Department and to give them some cards with this blog address, our website and email. Before I left, I told them that the library had helped to keep me sane--not because I worked there, but because for the whole 5 years I have been here, that library has been a beacon of light for me. It is an excellent library for a town this size. I was surprised at this when I got here and to some extent, I am still surprised. But they have great people working there; they order great books; the circ people get them out on the shelves so I can find them; and what I don’t find, I can interlibrary loan and they will do their best to get what I want. It has been wonderful to have access to words, ideas, thoughts, and knowledge. I have missed having a university library to use, but this one has been almost as good! So it has been interesting these past couple of days to stop in one last time at these places that have been a part of my life here. It seems unreal that after 5 years of popping in on a regular basis, I have now done that for the last time. But I will always remember the people and the places here that enriched my life in various ways when I really needed them!
