Thursday November 28th is Thanksgiving
America has an origin story, and our country owes a lot to the pilgrims. They were one of the big influences on how the system of America came into being. They came over from Europe and gave it a serious try.

Almost half—45 of the 102 passengers—died the first winter. Starvation is part of the lore I learned. These pilgrims didn’t know enough to catch and eat the fish in the ocean nearby.

Most cultures have a harvest festival of some kind, because most humans have learned to appreciate the seasons of germination, growing and then harvest. The pilgrims somehow missed that part of their trip planning, so they didn’t have enough food and a lot of them died with the lack of it.

The lore tells us that a generous local person showed them how to plant and harvest what grew locally.

That was 400 years ago.

32 years ago me and my family found ourselves in a new country a new continent for Thanksgiving. I’d only planned to be there 5 months, but it got extended and we were over in Far Eastern Russia for Thanksgiving.

How were we going to manage to celebrate it? What could we do to observe this tradition? The original pilgrims had Turkey, cranberries, corn and pumpkin pie.

I learned as a grown up that that is American local food. It didn’t exists in the lean crop of items at the stores in Russia. We had to find ways to simulate the food to keep the tradition as best we could

If I find myself in unfamiliar territory, it helps to look for what is at hand that is close to what I’m trying to achieve. If I don’t have an expert in the area I need help with, what is similar?

I remember we had access to a jar of carrot/apple baby food. It turned it into a custard pie. It wasn’t pumpkin but it was orange. It was well-received.

The Pilgrims has some good ideas and some bad ones. I’m glad we celebrate learning from new cultures and sharing a good meal. I know I get that wrong a lot, but it’s still something I aspire to along with all of America. I’m grateful for this tradition, and I’m happy I get to carry it on

Happy Thanksgiving!