Late last month

November is gone and the month continuous 'commercial excess' is upon us. We finished up the month of November with the usual holiday event; a family Thanksgiving feast. This time was a little different as we met at a lakeshore cabin in the woods. Our son in law's family has had this cabin for close to forty years; purchased when property like this was not near as dear as it is today. It's located on the shore of Lake Almanor and close to the village of Prattville. This is the second time around for Prattville as the original Prattville is under the waters of the lake. The lake itself is a creation of Great Western Power. PG&E, the north states major power provider, is now the owner. The lake was once a meadow, named quite aptly, Big Meadows. There was a 'huge' hotel spa/resort here in the late 1800's and early 1900's with excursion trains bringing customers from the San Francisco area up the Feather river canyon and then by stage to the towns of Chester and Prattville and to the hotel.

Enough history. We were there for a family gathering and although we didn't have all of the family there, we did have a crowd. As the most senior members of the family, we didn't have to do anything. We were only allowed to watch as the children and grandchildren put the feast together. The temperature outside was in the low teen's, so no one was playing outside, even though the sun was out and it looked beautiful... except for the winds that were 10 to 20 mph range, bending the tall pines and creating white caps on the lake.    

The road up was clear and ice free. We had been worried about the drive as a storm had been through here just two days ago.














Here's the cabin. One bedroom downstairs (ours for the weekend) and numerous cubicles with bunkbeds on the upper floor for all the rest of the family. The photographer (me) is standing about 20 yards away from the lake.












Early morning view of Mount Lassen, our own volcano! It's dormant now, having blown its top off about 100 years ago. It's wonderful to see snow on it once again.

The first turkey is gone. Our son in law had a second, smaller, turkey to cook for the next day when most of the family had left. That second turkey provided a lot more in the way of 'left overs'.






We had a wonderful time, seeing so many of our family here. It was especially nice to not have to worry about the cooking. In our 52 years of marriage, Laurae has cooked countless Thanksgiving dinners. She certainly deserved this day of rest.    

On Saturday morning we packed up and said goodbye to the lake before making a leisurely drive back down the hill to town; 90 minutes away.