Thanksgiving country style

I grew up in a small rural country town and I try to go each Thanksgiving to my nieces' house which is next to my sisters'(who passed away earlier this year) and hers was next door to my home where I grew up.
There were several clues right away that this was indeed a country gathering.
The first clue was the choice of vehicles in the yard.

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The next clue in case you needed more was the first dish I saw when I went into the kitchen.

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My nephew, Victor, had set up 2 TVs on the back porch so we could keep up with the game and not miss any other shenanigans.

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Victor likes to do what he calls a "Pilgrim" Thanksgiving which means he not only cooks many things outside over coals, but he and Linda spend the night out back in a tent with the coyotes for company. They put a pig on the coals at 4 AM and had it ready for a 1 o'clock dinner.
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Did you guys happen to notice the predominant color of the day?? In case you missed it, here is another view:

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Yep, it was a Clemson Orange day. Most all my family attended USC, but my nieces' son wants nothing more than to work in wildlife conservation and he is graduating from Clemson on Dec 12 and I could not be more proud. He always wanted to go fishing with me when we visited and I took him every chance I got. So now he is about to finish and will start grad school in January and work as a teacher's assistant at Clemson. As a high school student he did not like school and wanted nothing more than to be done with high school, but his mom, who is a teacher, convinced him that if he wanted to do what he loved, he need to go to college to allow him that opportunity. He was never a strong high school student so I wondered if he would make it through 4 years of college but he did and we all are proud of him.

This was our first Thanksgiving without my sister and we all missed her but I relished the chance to reconnect with family that I don't see very often. And I think that is what Thanksgiving is all about so I hope each of you had a joyous holiday as well.

Family,Friends,and Loved Ones giving our thanks:pray to the LORD for everything, that's what it is all about. Thanks for sharing your post and pictures.

ooooooooweeee that looks real good. Thanks for sharing.

thanks for sharing your Thanksgiving with us Ray. thanking the good Lord for all the blessings food and family time that's what Thanksgiving is all about

Love that Fat Back.

Happy times!! My fishing partners son is in his first year at clemson. They are a carolina family, but his son wanted that same type degree.

Very nice Ray. It is a time to give thanks, but for most of us it is a time when we miss the ones no longer there. Glad you all had such a great day. :santa

Enjoyed the read Ray. Like you, I attended three separate dinners, on three different days to accommodate a large, spread out family. Other than putting on a few pounds, each dinner was a complete success.

Ray I look forward to your Thanksgiving report each year. Looks like this year was better than most because of the orange :) Outside cooking adds something special to the food and it looks like y'all had plenty to go around. Enjoyed the pictures :ThumbsUp

Thanks, Ray!:biggrin

Thanksgiving is all about sharing with friends and family. Thanks for sharing your great Southern Thanksgiving with all of us. I know it was a great time for all.

Great story Ray, thanks for posting.