Thanksgiving Madness

The First Annual Yerkes-Beinert Alsatian Thanksgiving was held last Sunday with utterly untraditional fanfare & foods. It was almost entirely vegetarian (& the only unvegetarian thing was a herring salad, so...), and the horse didn't have to "carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow," due to the festivities falling at the tail end of the longest, mildest autumn ever. We spent a great deal of the evening chatting on the terrace and in the wide-open kitchen, with nary a jacket to cover us and not a goose bump to speak of! It was great fun.

I have always felt fortunate for the family and friends that I grew up with, many of whom I've been lucky enough to be able to see at least once every year or so since I left home so long ago. The friends that I've made since then have been marvelous, too, and I feel especially fortunate for the wonderful friends we have here - and inevitably all the more so when holidays roll around and we are not able to "go home for" them.

We were really happy to have been able to spend Thanksgiving with such great friends, and also ( ! ) with our new neighbour, Lynn, and with Joël's friends-since-high-school, Nahomie and Christine (they all grew up in Guadalupe, and now reside in Strasbourg, Paris and Marseille, respectively).

The following are a couple of photos that help to describe the evening's ambiance.

Lights and luminaries on the terrace:

While some took a smokes break on the terrace, others played Kiw da Wabbit inside (& no, Tomi's not the rabbit; you can see her nose and froont paws tentatively peeking into the doorway...):

And the look of First Love:
The flash was too close to Tomi's face, unfortunately. And you may not be able to see it very well, but that's Eliza's new moon purse. And I should say, in Tomi's defence, that he was copying one of his mentors, Anne-Sophie, wo knew exactly where a lovingly picked and gifted marigold would be best placed...( ?! )