Thanksgiving 2018 (Original Photography)

Howdy,

It's been a very busy end of the semester, though there are still two weeks left, but Thanksgiving break has come at last! With it has come a little time to take some photos and write. As with most years that I'm in the USA, I spent Thanksgiving in Rochester, MN at my parents' house. This year, my sister was even home, so it was just like the "old days."

^{¡Qué detalle!}

For those of you unfamiliar with Thanksgiving, the holiday basically revolves around a large meal and spending time with family. In my family, everyone is involved in the preparation, though the clean-up seems to draw less interest in participation. This year, in addition to the relish tray (my usual task), I also made the pie crusts. I hadn't made my own before, so it was a good chance to figure out how. The results were delicious. Of course, the inside of the pie gets all the praise.

^Drool-worthy

Every year, my parents buy, bake, and squash pie pumpkins by hand. In addition to an impressive mess, this yields a much more flavorful pumpkin for pie and whatever else they use it in. Canned pumpkin just isn't the same! When I lived in Spain, I also used this process to bake pies for my fellow teachers during Thanksgiving. Canned pumpkin isn't a thing you can find at Carrefour or Día grocery stores!

^{Rabbit-food platter}

It was a delicious meal and, while I did eat a little too much, I didn't overdo it this year. There are a lot of left-overs, which is a good thing. I'll be bringing some back with me to eat while scrambling to finish the last couple weeks of the semester. There is a lot coming up due and not much time to get it done!

^{Take a seat}

Unfortunately, the manual / automatic focus switch on my most-used lens is now broken. I'm not sure how it happened, but I'll have to send it in for an expensive repair... when I have an income. It still works in auto-focus, so it's not terribly pressing. The downside is that I can't use it for long-exposures. It flickers between manual and auto and will mess up focus before taking the shot.

Now, if only my estimated Steem account value were for real, and I had over $150 billion to work with, this wouldn't be an issue!

^{Ultra-Wide Place Setting}

Overall, though, it's been a good Thanksgiving. Hopefully, You'll all see me a little more frequently after the 10th of December, when everything's turned in and I have a bit more free time. Until then...

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