Free The Clarkl Soup Kitchens by Mary Carmen Page B

– We are going through a bit of a rainy period now. Rain is usually very heavy later in the year, but the planet has so much ice at the poles that rain can surprise even the oldest of the Clarklians.
    The rain has had a pleasant result: the locals are coming to the dining room. The manager believes it has something to do with fellowship, a desire to see one’s own kind when the weather is bad. I, on the other hand, think it is because it is easier to drive to our dining room than to shop for food in this weather.
    The New Christian Congregation has opened an automat, and that service, I understand, is jammed when it rains. The Clarklians take food out of the doors faster than the Americans can stuff it in from the other side. The Congregation has a nice covered walkway that leads to the automat, and the locals are able to pick up food without braving the elements.
    My little cabin is quite snug in this rain. The roof is good, and I understand it is rated for winds of up to 175 miles per hour, something we never see in Texas .
    I have been keeping the floor warm all day, even while I am away, and the window is very steamy when I return. The exterior paint seems to be holding up under the rain.
    The merchant was back yesterday to visit another American. Of course, this is not the time to paint, but I understand colors were selected and a mattress was sold.
    I am thinking, in this rain, about a hot toddy.
    March 27, 2144 – About six hours of rehearsals today, with the winds howling outside.
    Our sanctuary building is the least sturdy of the buildings in the compound. I understand the first Americans here built it themselves from plans that were developed for a modest church in North Dakota . Since that time it has had several new roofs, but the building remains the one not up to local standards.
    Even those 121-square-foot dwellings are better able to withstand the cold and the winds than our sanctuary. The Clarklians build them like Fort Knox . I understand all those tiny houses have that expensive electric flooring, although probably not with platinum flakes throughout. The government keeps boiling water circulating through a special set of pipes so the water that runs to all houses is kept above freezing at all times. It sounds like a plumbing nightmare, with a requirement for three temperatures of water in each building.
    March 28, 2144 – My house continues to be snug enough. The winds from yesterday have somewhat subsided, and the sanctuary is warmer.
    For the last several days, though, we have rehearsed in our warmest coats and hats. It is easier, I think, to sing wearing a heavy coat than to accompany. But everyone, myself included, had to stop to wipe spectacles and noses throughout the day.
    At the worst of this little storm, the temperature outside was about twenty below, Fahrenheit.
    The Clarklians are used to it, and they did not feel the need to stay at home. Our dining room was nearly full yesterday.
    Between the dining room’s large building and the many cabins is an enclosed walkway, and the nearest entrance to that walkway from my cabin is about ten feet. Running that short of a distance in the cold was enough to convince me I want to go home.
    Alas, my assignment is only a few weeks old.
    March 29, 2144 – Much warmer today.
    This was our Palm Sunday celebration, and the Reverend Walters was ready with the story of the entrance into Jerusalem . There is no vegetation here that resembles palm fronds.
    The choir is sounding better with the Myllar and so am I. We recorded it at the early rehearsal today and played it back for ourselves, something that took about an hour and a half in total. Each person had one ear on the combined performance and one ear on his or her own voice or, in my case, instrument. We sat with the score and marked what needed improvement. The next rehearsal, in the afternoon, was better.
    Somebody in America sent us some green robes, and the choir is determined to introduce them at