Finally it was Thursday and so food was starting to assemble be emptied and be cooked as the Macy's parade the finished cake the pain au chocolat from Wegman's and the clock marked the time before I headed to Chip's house where he was rigged up to fry our turkey as we drank beer and watched him smoke his cigar.

Back at home, Liz Dahlen arrived and Alex posed with Jane as Suzanne and Ben joined us and we decided to open the first bottle of wine because the table was set and appetizers and squash soup were being served before we came to the table and saw the many (15 or more) dishes that would make up our meal (for this day and the ones to follow) starting with pumpkin tortellini the onion dish stuffing broccolli the fried turkey artichokes cranberry the bean dish wasabi mashed potatoes and carrots by Jane so that the table looked like this before the stuffing vegetables and salad were added to the lights and the desserts stood guard as I admired the table and Ben brought out the sweet potatoes in orange shells as more wine was served to accompany my plate of goodies as people on both sides of the table dug in. and I took this self portrait at the head of the table.