STL DPB ON THE ROAD - TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING CARVING OF THE...

 

…stick of butter. We’re up here in Michigan with our son, Andy, his wife, Claire, and all three of our grandchildren. St. Louisan Ellie and Michigander Audrey contribute what they can by cutting a stick of butter into pats. I didn’t shoot anything yesterday so this phone shot by Andy will suffice. 

                      

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HANGING OUT WITH THE FAMILY

Not a great photo but there isn't much going on. We were thinking of making a long day trip to sand dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan but got scared off by snow in the forecast. So we hung out and entertained kids. 

In the air again later today. Thanks to a big schedule change by the *&$@# airline we would have had a forty minute connection in Chicago, the most direct way, and I ain't taking that chance. So we are going home through Washington, DC, the very long way around, but it works.                

 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - NORTH WOODS

We are pretty far up there by American standards, if you set aside Alaska. Although in Europe we are no further north than, say, Milan, the continental climate here makes for serious winters. The family went for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner walk on one of the many area trails. Snow was just beginning to fall as we headed back into town. The cold and damp isn't doing my pneumonia a bit of good.          

A QUIET WALK IN THE PARK FOR THANKSGIVING

It's quiet around the Crowe house this weekend. Neither Mrs. C or I are natives so there is no local extended family. In years past we often went to see her mother out in the Kansas farmland but since she left us at the age of 98 the draw isn't there. Our son and his family live up in Michigan, not the best place to travel in late November.

So it's just those of us here. Peaceful, especially since no one in this household has the slightest interest in watching football on TV. Maybe I'll go snap a shutter at something. I could go to Forest Park although it's supposed to be miserably cold and wet today. The photo was taken last Saturday when it was relatively balmy.           

If You Haven't Finished Making Your Holiday Plans . . .

Why not consider Thanksgiving dinner at the Travel Centers of America truck stop in Foristell, Missouri, about 50 miles west of St. Louis? Hey, and you get $5 off at your next visit. Come back at Christmas!

Our stops on the way to Kansas City were a bit more frequent than usual due to a certain special passenger. She slept through most of central Missouri, though. Who wouldn't?

     

Thanksgiving In Marysville

Thanksgiving in Marysville, Kansas, at the home of my mother-in-law, Elvira Kruse. She lives on Keating Street, above, on the edge of the prairie. Elvira will be 96 on Saturday.                      

Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, all us Apple people brought in daughter Emily and Madeleine after dinner on Face Time. Son Andy and his wife, Claire, drove in from Chicago and made a fabulous meal. Below, Andy, sister-in-law Mary Lee, Mrs. C, Claire and Elvira gather around the TV and Andy's MacBook, sending greetings back to The Lou.

And, at the bottom, Madeleine takes her first steps! A day to remember.                     

 

My First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner at Elvira Kruse's Home in Marysville, Kansas. First, the star of our show, who has not decided it's time to wake up and smell the turkey.

Below, the family around the dinner table. From left to right, son-in-law Brian, daughter Emily, son Andy, prospective daughter-in-law Claire and Mrs. C (wearing her Calgary Stampede shirt). Bottom, sister-in-law Mary Lee and the birthday girl, my mother-in-law, 95 today and looking pretty good.         

STL DPB Across The Kansas Prairie

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Nice dinner of Kansas City barbecue with some of the in-laws Wednesday night, then out across the rolling prairie yesterday to the town of Hanover, Kansas, population 653, where my wife's mother lives. She's 91, still lives at home, and we get out here when we can. We had a small, warm Thanksgiving dinner together.

I like driving across this part of the state. The terrain is varied and the farm fields are full of color in every season. The top picture was shot out the car window at about 70 mph / 112 kph while my son drove. No idea what the plant in the background is - power station, maybe. Below, two views of Hanover in the silence of a national holiday.

Thanksgiving Aftermath

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It was a good holiday. Mrs. C. and I had Thanksgiving dinner at our daughter and son-in-law's house. He's a high-end professional chef but we gave him a day off. U "R" Us was down from Chicago. He donned the chef's jacket while doing prep work.

I'm still in the online class about off-camera lighting technique. This week's assignment is to use a snoot on the main light. (What's a snoot? This is the model I used. I have no experience in this whatever.) The image has a 40's film noir look. Sam Spade might be coming to eat at his restaurant.

Thursday Arch Series

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Chew on this for Thanksgiving Day in the US, an occasion on which most of us eat too much and some of us spend much of the day watching football in a turkey-induced torpor. Not me. I'll probably edit pictures in a turkey-induced torpor. Who knows, I might even take some.

The sign is in front of the McDonald's on South Broadway in Soulard. I wonder what D B S stands for. Damn burger slop? Don't buy spinach? Leave a comment if you have other creative suggestions.

The trip to Kansas got canceled. A local family member needed urgent medical attention. So far, so good, and I may be able to say more about it later. However, as a big fan of St. Louis native William S. Burroughs, I was blown away when I found out that the surgeon was named Dr. Benway! boggleboggleboggle... Burroughs wrote: Dr. Benway is operating in an auditorium filled with students: "Now, boys, you won't see this operation performed very often and there's a reason for that.... You see it has absolutely no medical value. No one knows what the purpose of it originally was or if it had a purpose at all. Personally I think it was a pure artistic creation from the beginning.

I hope the art was working yesterday. I really, really do.