We are hunkering down for the next snow episode - we don't expect much here, but in the southern part of the state they will probably get more. It's going to be cold, though, in the teens tomorrow night and Wednesday night in single numbers. Thanksgiving Day is going to be frigid - only in the very low teens during the day and below zero at night. Friday will be a little warmer - not much!, then Saturday and Sunday snow/rain squalls. Does this seem like typical Thanksgiving weather? Here are some photos Fred took today. We went out for some supplies today so I can make a pie or two for the holiday. The snow by Three Ponds in West Danville looks more like January than November!

          You can see there was a little water on top of the ice in the first pond. That's because it was pretty warm today and there was some melting going on. The big pond opened up, but it will be frozen over again, big time, in the next day or so.
    There is plenty of snow along West Shore Road - not big snowbanks, but they are definitely growing!  West Shore Road has a lot of slush because of today's thaw. Good snowman and snowball making snow!
     We will be at home for Thanksgiving. We have a family tradition that everyone kind of goes their own way for Thanksgiving. Some years we have gotten together with family and friends; but sadly, the friends we used to often share our table with are gone now - only one of the four is still living now, and she's in Alaska.
     One year we went to Maine for Thanksgiving. That was nice, but when we are away from home, we always miss the turkey leftovers, so this year we'll be roasting a turkey breast, which is plenty for the two of us, and we'll be eating turkey in various forms for a while - an may freeze some for later. Because we don't entertain as much as we used to a few years ago, I'd stopped making pies. We'd sometimes buy a pie - Fred likes to have one in the freezer, already sliced so he can take out a piece and thaw it in the microwave when he wants some. I'm not a fan of most store-bought pies, so I've begun making my own again. Trouble is, I not only enjoy making them, I also enjoy eating my pies and the scales measure my enjoyment in added pounds. But, for Thanksgiving, you really HAVE to have at least pumpkin and apple pies - my personal favorite is mincemeat. Not the old-fashioned kind made with actual meat - just the kind with raisins and apple and lots of spices. Not a favorite for Fred, so I won't make one of those - I'll just remember how good mince pie is.
     When I was growing up, my mother made mincemeat with venison. I don't remember much about it except it seemed special at the time. I can't imagine eating it now, though. She canned all kinds of things - meat, vegetables, and fruit that we raised, and made pickles, applesauce, green tomato relish, etc. We cured our own ham and bacon, has salt pork in a crock in the basement, and had hens for meat and eggs. There was so much work put into keeping us fed through the winter, I wonder that she was able to do it all. she taught school full time, and I never heard her complain, even when she spent all of Saturday cleaning and baking for the horde of relatives that usually showed up on Sunday. Fortunately, all of those - my Scotch aunts and their husbands - never came empty handed, and all the aunts were great cooks. It was Thanksgiving every Sunday back in those days!
     If you are traveling this week, be safe, have a wonderful holiday with friends and family, and love one another. There's so much to be thankful for if we just take a moment to think about it.