Turkey Day

When Thanksgiving rolls around, we typically start preparing for the Thanksgiving feast about a week ahead. Buy the turkey, decide on the recipes and menu, and plan our day-by-day attack. In this case “we” means my brother Scott, who many years visits us from the Boston area for Thanksgiving, and I. Both of us are eating in accordance with The China Study, but we will chuck vegan for the day on Thanksgiving. Interspersed with the shopping, chopping, shredding, grinding, blending (and other pulverizing-type verbs found on my food processor machine) are time slots for hiking and enjoying the warm San Diego November. A favorite hike this year was the approximately 7 to 8 mile round trip hike to Mt. Woodson Peak from Lake Poway. This trail, located in the Mount Woodson Wilderness Area in northeastern San Diego County, is fairly rugged terrain, steep at parts, and provides beautiful views. The chaparral-type vegetation (manzanita, wild sage, yucca plants, oak trees) gives way to pine trees at the Mt. Woodson peak, the perfect spot for the mid-hike lunch and rest.

This year we provided support for my daughter Sara who ran the Silver Strand Half-Marathon on November 19th. Its ending point at the Imperial Beach Pier is a wonderful place to observe water life: surfers, sea birds, gulls, and occasionally dolphin!
On Thanksgiving Day we hosted the cousins, grandmothers, sisters-in-law, and brothers of the local Anderson clan. I was so excited to get the Cousins Shot (oft sought-after, but seldom manifested photo of all the cousins together in one place). Happy Thanksgiving!

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