The Turkey Did Not Die in Vain

For Thanksgiving, we shared a feast with friends of ours, at their house out on the fringes of metro Chicago. They have two children, and so do we, so the occasion had the motion of four kids. Ours are older, so even Ann got to be something other than the smallest person around for a while. Lilly got a bit of small-child management experience, ahead of the day when someone might pay her to do so.

Pictured below is part of the feast, including the turkey, the star of the table, in a shot taken just before we ate. Look carefully and you'll see that the salad was adorned with fritos, instead of croutons. It was a nice, crunchy touch.

I noticed in the fat Wednesday paper ad section that JC Penney was opening its doors at 4 a.m. on Black Friday. Actually, I have a real estate journalist's respect for Penney's -- not too many years ago, Penney's was predicted to be the next big retailer to evaporate, along the lines of Montgomery Ward. But no. It has survived, even turned things around.

My respect for the retailer's business acumen doesn't extend to seeking out any of its stores at 4 a.m. on any morning. They're going to have to pay me to shop that early, and I didn't see that offered in any of the Penney's ads.