Thanksgiving

Brenda and I were fortunate and privileged to have Thanksgiving dinner in the warm atmosphere of a private family home.

Brenda had I had met Jak Mang and his friends John and wife Priscilla in Port Townsend last September. Brenda and I had inspected John's newly-acquired S&S 43 "Rebecca" which was in a nearby jetty and I commented on how much I would like to meet the owner to discuss our boats. Soon after, Jak and John from Rebecca visited Pachuca because they had been attracted by her familiar S&S stern.

Jak and his wife Corine live here in San Francisco. John and Priscilla live in San Diego.

Jak invited Brenda and me to Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Francis and Martha, good friends of theirs. Corine picked us up and Brenda and I were amazed at how nice the residential areas of Oakland were. The elegant houses on the rolling hills reminded me a bit of Aukland. We soon arrived at the home of Francis, his wife Martha, and their two young girls Leah and baby Ona.
Young man Rob, Francis's son, completed the group.

Jak and Francis prepared the turkey feast and Martha & Corine provided the desert. I can't eat like I used to and I wish that I could have eaten three heaped plates of the wonderful dinner instead of the more civilized one. But I enjoyed what I ate (over red wine, of course) and so did Brenda. For me the pumpkin pie was the perfect finish to the meal.

For Brenda this was her first genuine USA Thanksgiving dinner. We both enjoyed very much the company and conversation with these fine peole and departed with fond and enduring memories of Thanksgiving 2009.

The top photo shows Jak (left) and Francis having fun carving the turkey. The next photo caught Corine (left) at an awkward moment, but this was the only photo of the dinner table that I had. (Sorry Corine.) Behind Corine is daughter Leah, then Francis at the head of the table, with Martha and Jak at the right. Behind Martha you can see glimpses of baby daughter Ona. Rob was to my left, out of view.

The bottom photo is, left to right: Brenda, Jak, Corine, Martha, Rob, and Francis.