COVID-19 is a great excuse to get out of obligatory nonsense that few of us genuinely enjoy. For every relative I genuinely enjoy spending time with, there are a dozen or so that fall somewhere on the scale from "lukewarm" to "loathing." (To be fair, very few are on the "loathing" end of the spectrum.)

I empathize with you on the political and religious garbage that seems to dominate every family gathering. Whatever happened to "don't discuss politics, religion, or money in polite company"? Does that somehow exclude Thanksgiving dinner? Oh, wait, never mind… family is rarely in the category of "polite company."

When it comes to people knowing you're atheist, you will eventually feel free enough to a) not care who knows, and b) not feel compelled to bring it up to people who don't know. I used to feel very strongly about needing to profess my nonbelief and show others what I'd discovered. But I learned (too slowly) that it doesn't diminish me if others assume I'm still devout, and that I'm unlikely to convince people who cling to religion for emotional reasons by invoking logical arguments. I've adopted a laissez-faire approach to religion and, to a lesser degree, politics, and I'm way happier for it.

For Thanksgiving, I'll be having a semi-traditional meal with my girlfriend. I say "semi-traditional" because I'm vegetarian, and she doesn't eat much meat, so we're foregoing the turkey or ham and gravy. It will be just the two of us, and she's planning on potatoes (whipped or roasted, I'm not sure which), stuffing/dressing, maybe some butternut squash, and possibly green bean casserole. I'm planning on making an apple pie (probably two — one for her and one for my father, who will probably be spending the day with his girlfriend) and my not-at-all-famous (but delicious, nonetheless) deviled eggs. And I'll probably get some snacks on my way to her place — veggies, chips, dip, etc. — so there's something to nibble on while were preparing dinner. And, if the weather holds out, maybe we'll go for a moderately long walk after we've eaten.

What are you doing on Thanksgiving instead of visiting family?

getting high and eating like a pig. Then attempting to hike it all off in the woods that surround our house

I'll drive 2 hours up to my folks house. Xmas is going to be the big one for me. Kennel my dog and then head to my folks house then drive 3.5 hours up to my brother's place outside KC. Ive got 11 days off thankfully.

As an aside thats my silver lining to covid. Being put on part time kept me from using all my vacation time lol

My Mom, Step dad and Grandpa all came down with COVID right before Thanksgiving due to them not taking it seriously enough.

Probably immediate family only ,not travelling that i know of ,just good food and chat and of course Wine

For turkey day, most likely nothing.

Depends, if I test negative for Covid (learned this morning a fellow teacher that bothered me for about ten minutes a week ago last Friday is now in ICU with covid. I wore a mask but she did not.

My father died last month leaving only a mother and a brother that lives with her.
No other realities in the state.

If the friend who lives in California makes it over for xmax, I may watch some movies or binge Sci-Fi series in my home theater. He likes 3d movies and I run over 2 dozen amplifiers and speaker and with an anamorphic screen just over 16' wide, many yards of black velvet and sound treatment, watching movies is very much like going to a commercial theater. My current projector is only 1080P (may soon upgrade) but my sound is better then most theaters. My room seats 21 but after the pandemic started, the largest (and only) crowd I hosted was 1 event with 2 others with masks. If he doesn't make it back to ND, may finish building a new front door with stained glass elements. Some students have expressed interest in continuing working on a book and science projects they are putting together over our winter vacation so I will likely burn a few dozen hours on line. I don't like to watch movie by myself in my theater as when the movies is over, it is a cold lonely experience sitting in a large, black room with near anechoic treatment free from the completely acoustically and visually immersive world of whatever movie was running. Watching a movie on a television in a different room is no problem when the movie is over but screening a movie in the theater is a different experience.

If I test positive, who knows?