Thanksgiving Day!  I’ve decided I’m going to splurge!  I will use up 5 gallons of stored gas to run the generator and have power all day long!  When my guests arrive, there will be lights, and water, and Jacob can watch all the DVD’s he wants.  I’m stuffing one of the turkeys and will heat up one of the hams.  Everyone will take leftovers home with them.  I’ve got a green bean casserole from my garden beans; homemade rolls; butter from the freezer; I even made a real pumpkin cheesecake; and I’m hoping that Bob & Kathy bring wine, if not, I do have enough.  This may be our last Thanksgiving feast, and I want to make it memorable.

Oh, what a great party! Jason & Angela were the first to arrive.  Jacob was excited to come to Nahna’s house; it seems like ages since he’s been here.  I have a collection pack of Muppet Movies; he’s one happy camper right now, with microwave popcorn and clear Kool-Aid.  Bob & Kathy and Guy & Dawn came together, to save gas, but they both brought a couple bottles of wine! Tom & Norene walked over, bringing another pie.

Of course conversation centered on the earthquakes, the lack of food and the loss of power.  They all wanted to know what I knew about all of it, which wasn’t much.  I did tell them that the power was gone now, indefinitely, and why.  It pretty much was stunned silence, but accepted.  Everyone has lost weight, trying to ration what they have left.  Mentally I started calculating how many containers I had that I could send home with them full of left overs.

Guy and Dawn had started prepping a couple of months ago, so they’re in decent shape.  They’ve got a generator, but limited gas; and a hand pump for the well, but not installed.  They do live on one of the local inland lakes, so they will have plenty of water for flushing and washing.  They’ve got a wood stove for heat and Guy has cut and stacked an impressive amount of wood. Dawn’s been working hard at stocking up, but she’s expecting their daughter to show up any minute, with four kids and a husband in tow.  What food they have, won’t go very far once the kids arrive.

Bob & Kathy have a natural fireplace, but with the open floor plan and pitched high ceilings, the fireplace won’t be able to keep up when it gets really cold.  There is a gas fireplace in the basement, and it’s a much smaller area to heat, so they will eventually move down there; and I know Bob just had their 1,000 gallon propane tank refilled.  The basement is also a walk-out, with an enclosed area where the gas grill is; perfect shelter for cooking and hidden from view.  However, their food supply is very limited, and what they do … or did… have, is in the freezer.  Rarely have they ever had more than a week or two of food in the house.  Bob’s been running their small generator enough every day to keep the freezers going.  He was the most shocked one when I said power was gone – period – he was sure everything would be ok next week.  I just don’t know what to do about them.

Tom and Norene I don’t worry about, they’ll be fine; but with them both in their 70’s, hard work is getting harder for them to do.

That leaves Jason and Angela.  I’m his mother, I will always worry about him, but he’s smart and young and healthy.   I will try not to worry.

I can’t think about Eric right now.  He’s still in Florida as far as I know, and safe.  We talked briefly a few days ago, and they are all doing fine.  He went out hunting and got another hog to refill the freezer.  Fortunately their power is still on.  They weren’t nearly as affected by the quake as some of us.

We ate very well, and then played some cards, just like everything was normal.  I sent ALL the extra food home with everyone except Tom & Norene; they don’t need it.  I kept two slices of ham for lunch tomorrow.

The temperatures were incredibly mild, 62 for the high!  I did check the internet, only to find there is a cold front moving in tonight, and snow predicted for tomorrow… a LOT of snow.  I knew I smelled it in the air!