Happy Thanksgiving

Ok, so, I'm a few days late. I had meant to post earlier, but c'est la vie.

There is much I have to be thankful for - the basics being:

1) Food on my table,
2) Clothes on my back, and
3) A roof over my head.

Everything else is "gravy".

Thanksgiving day is more than just "turkey day" - if you've never seen President Lincoln's proclamation, you should read it.

I was tempted to try and post a somewhat accurate presentation of what is regarded as "The First Thanksgiving" (the feast held in 1621 by the Plymouth colony Pilgrims), but decided against it. What I will say is that in the last 30 years, or so, there has been a revisionist "historical" account in which the Indians are given almost complete credit for "single-handedly" saving the colony from complete and utter ruin. And this is simply not true.

Yes, the Indians helped the Pilgrims, but the Pilgrims also helped the Indians. Not all of the tribes in the area were friendly (to each other let alone to the colonists). The Pilgrims and some of the local tribes did have a "mutual defence" alliance, in addition to their trading, etc. But the notion that the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to fish, plant crops, and use fish as fertilizer, as some "historians" would want you to believe is simply ridiculous. The Pilgrims were farmers and fishermen - they knew how to plant crops (though "Indian corn" or "maize" may be another story) and fish (though "fishing" for eel may be another matter) and they knew how to use fish as fertilizer: using fish as fertilizer was commonplace and can be found as far back as the ancient Egyptians - maybe even farther. To suggest that the Indians 'taught' the Pilgrims this "new idea" is absolutely ludicrous. Yet there are those who want you to believe it's true.

If you really want to know the proper historical facts, do some research. Read (copies of) the original written accounts by those who were there. Ask your parents and/or grandparents what they were taught about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving in school (it's a lot different than what has been taught in the last 30 years or so, I guarantee you).

But I digress.

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection and of "giving thanks" (surprising, no?) for all the blessings God has bestowed on us, as a nation as well as individually. So, for all that You have given me, oh Lord God Almighty, I am truly thankful.