Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrims

The Jazz Bus: The Mayflower
A 65 day trans-Atlantic ocean voyage on a tiny just sea worthy ship over-loaded with 102 passengers, most of whom were willing to risk all for their religious convictions; they miss their destination by hundreds of miles, arrive in a place uncharted, alien to them and those who piloted there. Disaster strikes. Now What?
You think a plot for a new reality show, but no, just the true story of “The Mayflower”, and a great book by Nathaniel Philbrick. Putting the book aside I reflected on Thanksgiving and what it means to some as well as the actual facts leading up to, as we called it in Scudder Avenue School, “The First Thanksgiving”. The modern day feast is the turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings, along with a few football games thrown in. Not exactly what the Pilgrims and Native Americans experienced.
These “Pilgrims” were actually a religious cult which broke away from the Church of England wishing for a life based solely on the teachings of The Bible. Described by some as “Separatists” they first emigrated to Amsterdam (1608) and then Holland (1609) to escape harassment and social persecution in their homeland. After 12 years in Holland, still unable to achieve religious and social recognition, one half the group left to settle in territories of The New World owned by The London Company.
Mishaps with ships and crew members (the Strangers) who mixed uncomfortably with this religious sect( the Leideners) , the 102 in total boarded The Mayflower on September 16,1620, landing in Cape Cod, November 19, 65 days later. They were granted land rights in Northern Virginia; unfortunately they missed their mark by hundreds of miles to the north. Alone, not joining up with other colonists or English civilization as they expected, and having no legal rights to the landing area, they were forced to draw up The Mayflower Compact which would help govern them when they settled. It took one month aboard that tiny ship sailing up and down the unfamiliar and quite unfriendly coast until they finally agreed upon a suitable place to settle, Dec. 26, 1620. The Mayflower which was late for its scheduled return back to England was now forced to spend what was best described as a horrible winter anchored in the harbor, On April 15, 1621, when The Mayflower started its return to England, half the colonists were dead. Those remaining were determined to survive.
The “First Thanksgiving” held October, 1621, was actually a Harvest Feast similar to English custom. After 11 months of fighting the fertility of the land, being both friend and foe to some of the Native tribes, the settlers harvested corn, squash, beans, barley and peas; hunted duck, geese, deer and wild turkeys. All this with an abundance of striped bass, bluefish, cod, and beer brewed with the barley, the feast began when some “Natives” offered their neighbors deer roasted on a spit. Their mutual challenge of survival was a bonding force. The colonists sat cross legged on the ground, eating with their bare hands and knives, as forks didn’t make it until 1690 or so. The colonists were considered “as a little child” by the Pokanokers, while the Pokanokers were “very trustworthy, quick of apprehension, ripe witted, just” according to Edward Winslow.
As you sit comfortably around your table with your Harvest Feast in front of you, with knives and forks at the ready, it is time to honor the true meaning of Thanksgiving, one where we actually give thanks to our friends, relatives and family, those who make our lives so special and rewarding. From all the riders on The Jazz Bus to your family, Happy T Thanksgiving. Jazzbus@gmail.com PS: I am finally on FACEBOOK.