Thanksgiving Rerun

One of the many benefits of getting up early is seeing a sunrise like this.  I dislike hitting the floor running and enjoy coffee and quiet time before starting the day.  Once the wheels started turning yesterday, it was nonstop for the duration.  The turkey (the one without plumage) was in the oven by 6:30.  A shower and clean clothes before barn work is asking for disaster; a milk spill would be almost guaranteed, so I put that off.  The girls were uncommonly cooperative and each received my thanks.  I was no more than back in the house and pulling out the vacuum cleaner when Dave, Sandra, and her daughter Katie pulled up.  Nothing like doing your housework after the guests arrive.  To illustrate why I waited, just after I'd swept the living room Bessie Anne came in and left leaves, a twig, and a couple of foxtails on her way through.  It's a game I cannot win.  Dave was restocking the firewood rack when Clay arrived, followed by Deb and Craig and then Larry and his friends Joe, Phoebe, and young Joey.  Other invitees were, for good reasons, unable to attend.  Deb and Craig took on KP duties and peeled pounds of potatoes before joining the inevitable poker game.  When the time came, Dave and Larry combined forces to carve the turkey.  Of the fifty-odd Thanksgiving turkeys I've roasted over the years, I have never carved a turkey myself.  The boys vie for the job, nibbling at the bits to the point I wasn't sure there'd be enough left to put on the table.  Tradition runs strong here, and the menu never changes.  It's a rerun every year.  It was Craig's birthday, so it's no surprise there was pecan pie for dessert.  (I learned years ago not to put a wax candle in a hot pecan pie.)  Family, friends, good food...it doesn't get much better than that.  Except winning at poker, but I can't have everything.

It was an exceptionally good day.