Thanksgiving

The plan: Go camping at Arroyo Seco with friends; spit-roast the turkey and enjoy outdoor festivities.

Step1: Pre-bard and season the bird.

Step 2: Realize that all of Los Padres National Forest is still under stage 4 fire restrictions. Translation: NO FIRES ALLOWED, even in the campgroud fire pits. How is one supposed to spit-roast????

Step 3: Curse. (not pictured)

Step 4: Improvise a fire pit in the front courtyard with some old bricks. (These are the bricks a neighbor was getting rid of several years back, originally salvaged from a building up in SF decades ago -- I knew they would come in handy sometime...)

Step 5: Unload the firewood from the top of the truck.

Step 6: Make a nice little fire.

Step 7: Have a beverage. Chat with passing neighbors who comment how much they love the smell of a wood fire.

Step 8: Friends arrive; con friend into doing the slimy part of getting the turkey onto the spit pole.

Step 9: Engage in complicated machinations to get the bird lined up correctly so the cross-brace knitting needles will go in and keep it from slipping.

Step 10: Turn the spit around...and around...and around....and around... A 12 lb bird takes about 2 1/2 hours.

Step 11: Feast! Then pack up and drive to the campground.

Step 12: Enjoy being outside at Arroyo Seco.

Step 13: Pack up and outrun Sunday's torrential rainstorm.

We hope everyone else had as enjoyable holiday!