I've just got home from spending Thanksgiving with my lovely friend Hannah and her family. It all began with us driving six hours across the state in her sports car, me folded into the back seat, to Ashe County which is buried away in the mountains bordering with Virginia and Tennessee. As we drove nearer to her home town our ears popped with the altitude and we felt the temperature plummet.
Arriving in the dead of night we were welcomed by Charlene, Hannah's bleary eyed yet wonderfully welcoming Mum and a hyper active puppy called Jude who was the spitting image of a toy dog I had as a child that yapped three times and then did a back flip. After a good nights sleep we pulled on our slippers and padded across the road to Hannah's grandma's house who cooked us a delicious southern breakfast with biscuits and grits. Over the course of our trip we got to meet most of her family who were all so friendly and wonderfully southern.
An absolute highlight of the trip for me was when we piled into the Chevy with a trunk full of guns and headed out into the forest. Before I knew it I was lifting this enormous hunting rifle up into the crook of my arm and pulling the trigger. An earth shattering bang sounded as the bullet propelled from inside and set my heart racing. It was equally exhilarating as it was utterly terrifying! Don't worry though, considering the guilt I felt shooting a pumpkin, I don't think I'm going to be posing any sort of threat to mankind anytime in the distant future but I did enjoy my bond girl moment, however temporary.
Back at Hannah's and bullet wound free I spotted what has to be the most amazing car I had ever seen pulled up in the drive. A light blue 1964 Ford Galaxie 500, officially my dream car. It turned out it belongs to Hannah's 16-year-old brother (it used to be his grandfathers) who took me out for a spin. It was completely amazing, and don't worry, I resisted the urge to break into a rendition of Grease Lightnin'.
On actual Thanksgiving Day all of Hannah's family came over to the house and an absolute feast was prepared. In many ways the day, and the food, was similar to Christmas as there was turkey and stuffing but there were also new dishes such as pecan squash and pumpkin pie to tuck into. It was absolutely delicious and I am definitely in favour of attempting to bring this tradition to England. I've always thought we should have more than one Christmas so this seems like the only logical solution!
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