The Holidays

The Green Bay Packers are the alter at which probably 80% of Wisconsinites worship, thus making Aaron Rogers their God. Have you ever known me to follow sports of any kind? No, I’m not turning into a fanatic, but given that on game days the bakery decorates everything from cupcakes to donuts with green and gold sprinkles I thought it only fitting that when it was my turn to decorate cookies and the Christmas gingerbread men, that some would just have to wear the green and gold #12.

The holidays are bringing forth all sorts of fun things to bake and package: traditional breads I had never heard of before (Rye turtles, anyone? Yes, they look like turtles and are labor intensive) to me having to unpack and prepare around 100 pumpkin and apple pies just before and around Thanksgiving. My shifts were much longer but have now calmed down in the lull before Christmas. 

Mother Nature has been fairly kind to us with many of the major storms passing to the south of us, hitting Chicago-land instead. We still have only a dusting of snow on the ground although temperatures are running about ten degrees below normal, so it definitely feels like winter! The kitties have found their ways to stay warm and aren’t so keen on stepping foot outdoors.

It’s still better than what those poor folks in California are dealing with. I am from the Chico area and have many relatives there, some of whom have still not been able to return home. I read with sadness about how the fire had destroyed Honey Run covered bridge, a structure that had stood for 132 years and was the last of its kind in the U.S. My father carved his initials in it when he was a boy and he is buried not far from there at a pioneer cemetery in Nimshew near Magalia. His marker was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, out of bronze, and I am left wondering at what temperature bronze melts or is destroyed or if the fire skipped that area and all is well for the dead in their eternal sleep.