Ere the sun rose on this day, I bailed out of bed early to drive to Radina's Bakehouse in Manhattan. It is a local coffee shop and bakery. You drive up, order, then all manner of goodies are handed through your automobile window. It is like Christmas, almost.
The only thing that cannot be handed through your window is a loaf of bread. I do not know the reasoning behind this rule. You could get bread through the car window during the pandemic. A bureaucrat somewhere in Riley County must have discovered Radina handing out too much convenience and simple happiness far too early in the morning.
"If you want warm bread first thing in the morning, you lazy bastards, you WILL get out of your cars, go inside to buy the bread the way miserable people have always had to buy bread!"
I mean, maaaaaaybe the bureaucrat said that?
Luckily for me, on this morning, I did not want an entire loaf of bread. I just wanted a little adventure. I wanted piping hot coffee and a croissant, or some other delectable bakery item. Then, I parked my car to enjoy everything at once.
The photo was taken in the parking lot of the MoA+L, which is The Museum of Art Plus Light. I have not yet visited this place, but I certainly intend to do so!
I was so happy that morning. I felt great and the weather was fine. I was enjoying the break in routine, and definitely appreciating fresh baked goods with coffee. There was no traffic, and the city was just not quite awake, so it was very peaceful. The smell of coffee was in the still air when I turned the corner. I wondered if the working gals were aware of the good jobs they had, even though they came in before daybreak. (I thought if I had ever had a job like that, I would look back on it fondly.)
I marveled at our clean, orderly, sleeping Kansas university town. We live good lives in Kansas, for the most part. Women can go to work in the dark safely, for the most part. It is an amazing thing when a small town like Manhattan, Kansas has a bakehouse!
I sipped my coffee that morning - the heater on and the windows down. I loved the Christmas lights, which were far more colorful than they look in the photo. It was a bit of colorful magic in the dark and I thanked God for my life in Kansas, for Christmas and my children, and my little house on the prairie. I was thankful for the clean streets, that none of our buildings have been bombed or riddled with weapons of war. Most of us have jobs to do, and we do them well. From the little gal taking my order with sleep still in her eyes, to the people who wrapped these trees in miles of Christmas lights.
It was a wonderful sunrise.
Sunrise, December 30. 2024 Manhattan, Kansas
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