Thanksgiving

Last Thursday, I attended a Thanksgiving dinner with 23 other people.  It was the largest Thanksgiving feast I have ever attended, and definitely one of the best.  The guests included many local members of the New Mexico SF community, both fans and writers, but also included families from Colorado, California, and Melbourne-freaking-Australia. 

(Below the cut, photos of the feast.)

it was a large group.  We had to set three trestle tables and a card table end-to-end in order to seat everybody.  That, in turn, meant moving some furniture from adjoining rooms, just so that we could get everybody seated more-or-less at the same table. I suppose we could have broken the dinner into smaller groups, but where, I ask you, would have been in the fun in that?  It’s a blast to sit down at a dinner and realize you need a telescope to see folks at the other end of the table.

The seating was organized into four sections:  Above the Salt, Just Below the Salt, A Short Hike Below the Salt, and A Bracing Constitutional Just To Disover an Empty Salt Cellar.

Here’s the view from the west end of the table:

Visible on the left, and going about halfway back:  Cordelia Willis, Connie Willis, Courtney Willis, George Martin, Parris McBride, Wanda June Alexander.  Visible on the right, and going about halfway back: Ryan Cassutt, Scott Denning, Patricia Rogers, Chip Wideman, Jim ?, Jayné Franck, Ty Franck.

And here’s the view from the east end of the table:

That’s the back of Melinda Snodgrass’s head, our hostess.  Visible on the left and going about halfway back: Hank Messinger, Sage Walker, David ?, Alex Cassutt, Ty Franck, Jayné Franck.  Visible on the right:  Mike Cassutt (just barely in the frame), Cindy Cassutt, Janice Gelb, Stephen Boucher (hidden behind Melinda’s wine glass), Raya Golden, Wanda June Alexander.

And in spite of all those hungry mouths, there were leftovers.  Lots and lots of leftovers.