“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.” ~ Helen Keller
I had one of the best days ever! It was the day of the library retreat. In the past, this was reserved for faculty and professional staff only. This year, they rightly included staff. It started with a fantastic breakfast with Marie Dale and Stacy Yelton at Frische’s. We laughed so hard I was snorting like a big pig. We dried our eyes, and made our way to the retreat where Tag Heister (above right) approached me. She is a UK Chandler Medical Center librarian, pictured here with Rick Brewer and Robert Shapiro, also med center librarians. She learned about the outhouse from my good friend Dr. Greg Davis. Tag could not have been more generous with her kindness. I can’t tell you how much it means to know the outhouse is appreciated. It was made all the sweeter by meeting Tag in person – you see, with 14 branch libraries and nearly 200 staff, it’s not unusual to know someone’s name yet never meet them. Anyway, that was soon followed by one of my proudest moments. As new employees were being introduced, Deirdre Scaggs introduced me as not a new employee but one who was coming home to Special Collections. I gave her a hug for that; it made me just that happy (because I don’t hug anybody very often)!
One of the highlights of the day was the Edible Book Contest. I had absolutely no interest in participating, but Crystal Heis was insistent that I make the title I thought I was recommending for her. Little did I know her nefarious plan to coax me into the contest. It worked, of course, and I produced The Glutenberg Bible. I’m thrilled to say we both came out winners. Both of her entries took awards ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tofu” and “Ketchup in the Rye”, and the Glutenberg Bible won for “Most book-like”. Gordon Hogg liked my book so much that he took it home as a door prize when he found out every part of it was, in fact, edible. I hope he doesn’t get food poisoning. Everyone’s entries were so clever, and to my surprise, I had a blast!
And then there was Deirdre chasing the geese, or as Stacy called it “equal parts ‘The Ten Commandments’ and ‘The Sound of Music’.” There are enough shots of her trying to get those geese riled up that I’m pretty sure there’s a gif laying in wait. Meanwhile, she managed to not get goose poop between her toes. That’s talent right there, folks. It was a sight to behold, let me tell ya. The day started with laughter, and ended with laughter. Somebody tell me how I got so lucky to find such a wonderful bunch of people who actually want to keep me around? One of the best days ever!
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