After 3+ years of working on my field guide, Mosses of Missouri Through a Hand Lens, today was the day I got to pick them up from the print house and hold one in my hand for the first time. It is surreal. It is fantastic. It is an amazing moment! I can finally let out a big sigh of relief as this monumental task is finished, and I look forward to being able to focus on all the fun field work again.

Luckily, the printing company I used, Walsworth, is based out of Marcelene, MO which is under 2 hrs. away from me. This meant that I could save quite a bit on shipping if I went to pick up the books myself. 1000 books weigh roughly 2,250 lbs., so this meant that I needed to hook up my horse trailer to haul that kind of weight.

That weight pushed the upper limit towing capacity for my truck, and I safely kept it at 50 mph driving home.

I wasn’t sure what the size of the area would be for all these boxes, knowing only that there were 55 boxes on a pallet. That weight compresses quite well into a small area, and it didn’t take up near the footprint that I thought it might. The boxes are now in the garage until my husband and I can get them moved into the house….of course….this means that I now have to find a place to put them first. But that’s a problem that I am happy to have.

I plan to have all the preorders signed and shipped out within the week. Until then, happy mossing!!