12/15/2006

On the Road

Finding family away from home

Tradition carries on with friends at the holiday

By Andrew Dost
Local columnist

The holidays are typically a time to be among family.

This past Thanksgiving, we were among a new family. And we were at a home away from home.

We spent the day in Atlanta, with two bands we're good friends with, Page France and Colour Revolt. We had a fairly late night on Wednesday, visiting with friends, and then once they had left, visiting with each other, telling tales of our favorite Thanksgivings, and memorable ones that hadn't quite been favorites. A few of us stayed up until around 5 in the morning.

We were woken up by my phone ringing a few hours later. It was a friend from Page France telling us that they were ready to shop and start cooking. So, we gathered and went to the store, and everyone moved through the aisles as a group, grabbing their necessities for the day and explaining why it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it.

For example, a couple people needed cranberry sauce. We were hungry when we were there, so as a result, we ended up with 7 cans of cranberry sauce.

Fortunately, we had a turkey donated to us so we were free to work on potatoes, stuffing, corn, pumpkin pie and all the other touches that

make for the best meal of the year.

So we went back to the apartment in which we were staying, and began cooking. For most of us, it was the first big meal we've been in charge of by ourselves. We tried to time things right so they'd get done around the same time. We tried to estimate when we'd need the

oven and when we'd need the range. We tried to figure out how to keep things hot once they were done.

It was a blast. We had so much fun experimenting with recipes, dropping freshly peeled potatoes on the ground, and in general, just laughing and enjoying the day together. Finally the rest of our friends arrived, 17 people in all. It was a bit chaotic, but incredibly fun.

We had a toast, and complimented all the food that we had worked on, even the stuff that hadn't turned out as well as we'd planned. We read "Trivial Pursuit”' cards to each other and marveled when people knew impossible answers. When we went around the room and told about what we were thankful for, everybody echoed the same sentiments.

We were thankful for our families, and not just the ones that share the same blood.

Andrew Dost, 23, is a 2001 graduate of Frankfort High School and a 2005 graduate of Central Michigan University. He's a member of a rock band called "Anathallo,” which is nearing the end of a two-month nationwide tour. They plan to take the month of October off to write music for a forthcoming record, and resume touring in November. Dost, who plays flugelhorn and piano, also holds a degree in journalism and writes occasionally from the perspective of being in a band on the road. He can be reached care of the Record-Eagle. Dost is also blogging about his experiences on the road at http://blogs.record-eagle.com.