This marks the fourteenth day of my newest job. I haven't had a "clock in" job for several years so I'm very happy to have gotten hired considering my advanced years and numerous infirmities. LOL....One would surmise by this that I'm ancient! Not really, although mornings such as we are experiencing on the Great American Desert can certainly make one feel that way. According to the reports on my 'puter the current temperature is -29 degrees! Whoosh! I get up around 2 in the morning to get ready for work. The task of preparing donuts, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches begins at 3:20 or so. Yes, I am now the "King of the Kitchen" at our local Casey's General Store. It's a pop shop not unlike any one of the franchises that have opened across our nation the past few decades. Talk in and around the coffee machine was about the cold. Go Figure!! One retired farmer left his wife waiting in the pickup(only until she honked)to come in and get coffee and donuts. Old farmers love to chat about the weather no matter what it is doing. He reported a reading of -35 out at his place. I don't suppose this is a record for South Dakota but I've got a hunch it is approaching several of them. The pics above were taken from my southern most porch very quickly with the door open just enough to allow the tripod & me to get the pics and avoid freezing. When I did the trash takeout at work my nose drizzled a little and I noticed that it did not drip. It just formed a little bead and froze on the end! I doubt if Snickers will desire to go out and do his business this morning. He doesn't really care for anything below freezing and it is twice that this morning. I'm very thankful this day to have "broken in" to the new position as quickly as I have. It has been years since I cooked commercially. God is really good when it comes to answering our prayers. During the current economic crisis my wife's position has been limited as all of our expenses have escalated. I first applied in October to half a dozen places with no success until the morning four days after Christmas when I was out searching our city(1500 strong)for the garbage truck. The entire back end of the van was filled with Christmas refuse. After finding the truck and emptying the van I decided to stop at Casey's and get some coffee and a donut or two(in another life I think I was a policeman). While talking to the manager I learned that he was looking for someone to work the bakery. Wow, I thought to myself, I can do that. The next thing I knew we had talked for many minutes and he hired me on the spot. I filled out the initial paperwork on the 30th and my first official day was January 1, 2009. I'm soooo blessed, and without a doubt I realize that God always has a plan even when we are unaware of just what it may be. One of these days I'll post some pics of the kitchen I now haunt from the wee hours of the morning until sunrise. I'm praying for our country, and for the president elect. Most of the prayers are geared at helping our leaders find solutions before we plunge headlong into a depression such as we had when my folks were growing up here in South Dakota.
I pray that everyone is staying warm where you are and that God will continue to reveal Himself in new exciting ways throughout this new year. In Christ's Love, Preacher.
