Being one of literally millions of people descended from a couple of folks who were on the Mayflower voyage in 1620, I am interested in learning more about what life was like back then. A couple of websites I found kind of transported me back there.

Scholastic, the publishing company known for their educational materials (hence, their name), has a site about the first Thanksgiving. The coolest parts I found there were the interviews with the “Pilgrims” and “Wampanoag”. Obviously they were not the actual people, but actors. Still, it was interesting and made it seem more personal. One of the people I’m descended from is John Howland, who has the distinction of having fallen overboard at about the midpoint of the journey across the Atlantic.

The very best one, however, is the Plimouth Plantation site. It taught me about history in general as well as the events surrounding the 1620 Mayflower landing. It’s got good photos of recreations of objects and places. You can even eat a themed dinner with them, although I am sure reservations for this year are full. One thing I appreciated about Plimouth Plantation: the Mayflower folks are referred to as “English colonists” and the natives are called by the names they chose for themselves, instead of Pilgrims and Indians. I dislike lumping people together, as if everyone who lived in the area where the ship landed was in the same group, or as if all the travelers came to this continent for the same reason.

If you’d like to read another article about the Pilgrims, there’s one from Smithsonian magazine. It doesn’t have many pictures and was written for grownups, so of course its appeal is limited for me.

Our family will celebrate a typical ole American Thanksgiving, with turkey, cranberries, and potatoes. We’ll attend church in the morning, which may not be as typical. Ultimately, we give our thanks to God and so we want to join with other people who are doing the same thing on this specific day.

Happy Thanksgiving, however you’ll spend the day!

To Mike and Angie….bummer about the whole Canada thing, huh? I had intentions of sending you some sort of care package, but it didn’t quite work out. Don’t worry; you can still be thankful while you’re surrounded by French people. I’ll be thinking of ya!