Welcome to the Toque

Often when I am cold, you will see me with a knitted hat on my head. We Canadians call this piece of headwear a "toque". And the "Toque" is my Poppa's nickname for the city of Medicine Hat, the "Gas City", which Rudyard Kipling described as having "all hell for a basement." And the "Toque" is now where I live. (At the mention of Medicine Hat, I can almost hear Melissa J. growl a little bit and recollect the old farmer in the pick up admonish her on her driving.)

If you've read my last few posts, you know how content I was to be home on my farm near Frontier with Radar as my constant companion. As often happens in life, my plans did not work out mainly because there was no work for me . . . not yet anyways . . . perhaps later . . . maybe not . . . I waited a few weeks and then headed to Medicine Hat to find a job before all the college students snatched up every available opening. It was hard leaving Frontier and all the summer plans my heart had made. But perhaps they were just my plans, not God's plans, and therefore we know that He only has something better in store. I just have to be patient and wait and trust.

So here I am, bunking in with my Auntie Sherry in her little house, with a cat who follows me around staring with her yellow cat eyes. The lamp in my room is one of those that you have to touch to turn on. The problem is that it has a mind of its own, turning off and on whenever it wants, even in the middle of the night. As soon as I arrived, I developed a sore throat and cough, eventually necessitating a trip to the walk-in clinic with the doctor whose earrings were as big as her ears. But I'm recovering and getting used to small city life again.

And I have begun a new occupation. As an aspiring teacher/professor, I've learned to welcome all the various life experiences I can get. Every job I've had has been full of crazy stories and people and precious life and spiritual lessons. I'm sure this one will be no different. I am a waitress at a golf course clubhouse. It's the start of the season and still quiet so a family of deer wander across the grass and nibble on the trees. The peaceful scenery should be appreciated now before the months of crazy busyness begin.

And when those months are over, hopefully I'll be in Vancouver. I have been accepted to grad school and am looking forward to it with immense anticipation.

During the last month or so that I was home, people who I hadn't seen for a while kept asking me if I was living in Medicine Hat. I'm not sure where they got the notion - perhaps because I worked up here for a couple of summers. Truthfully, I was a little annoyed that they'd assume things about me without asking. But now I smile a little at the irony. For now, I live in the "Toque".