Today is Thanksgivings Day, to Americans it's a day of celebration, family and friends. It is the day a starving group of pilgrims, fleeing from religious persecution, were helped by a group of friendly Native Americans. The Indians helped the settlers get through the abnormally harsh winter. They taught them how to survive the New England winter and shared many of their ways.
Bring a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats a lifetime. That is what the Native Americans gave to the settlers.
43 of the original 102 settlers did not survive the harsh winter into the next fall. In the Autumn of 1621 the hard working pilgrims had a bountiful harvest. The colonists, in the tradition of the, English harvest festival, held a three day celebration in honor of their new land and new friends. The group included 91 Native Americans that had helped the Pilgrims through the worst of times.
Thanksgivings Day is the gateway to the holidays. The weather turns cold and blustery, the trees are turning colors and leaves fall to the ground. Children can be heard laughing as they jump into huge piles of leaves. You can feel the crispness of snow in the breeze, it chills to the bone and is just around the corner. You feel snug as a bug in your living room, cozy in front of a blazing fireplace. Football on the telly. The smell of turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and ham filter through the air.
Thanksgiving has become a day of reflection, people gathering to break bread and appreciate all they have. Americans are a fortunate group of people, you could easily do worst. Our land is prosperous and mostly our cupboards are full. Sometimes, we take things for granted, but on a day like Thanksgiving, we all need to think of how special our country is and how beautiful our world is. Freedom, Liberty and Truth are all great slogans but the real heartbeat of America is it's citizens. People, from the span of the globe, come here with the hope of a better life, together, as one, we make The American Dream live.
But most of all, we really must pause and take a moment to give thanks, to the Native American Indians for bringing Turkey not Crow.
See associated story: Animal Rights Activists Object To Useless Turkey Slaughter During Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving
From Sunset and Vine
Buck E Filbert
Somewhere thinkin:
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."
Albert Pike (American Lawyer, Journalist and Soldier, 1809-1891)
