Giving thanks

Happy Thanksgiving. Today I get to give thanks for being a member of the greatest nation in the history of humanity. USA No. 1. Woooooo. And I can be thankful that my national soccer team qualifies for its local tournament every time unlike a certain insignificant island nation i call home. Yes I have lived in England for the majority of my life and I was born here but I am American thanks to my Dad being American. You cut me I bleed red, white and blue though. I love Toby Keith's courtesy of the red, white and blue (check it out if you haven't heard it- the lyrics are ridiculously patriotic) - I am as American as Mom's apple pie. As long as it suits me to be so. And it suits me to be American over thanksgiving because i get to eat well. I love turkey dinners with all the trimmings and we will be having a big family dinner in a couple of weeks. mmmmmm. I should hopefully be heading out for BBQ food and NFL fun this evening. It is a great holiday. 2 days off before a weekend, lots of good food and lots of NFL. I like the story behind it too.

When the pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in 1620, one of the local Indians called Squanto who spoke English taught them how to catch eel and grow corn and helped as an interpreter with his local Wampanoag tribe. Without Squanto's presence they may not have survived in the new world. After a successful first harvest the pilgrims held a feast to thank God and the indians for their help. Much later President Lincoln made it a national holiday and it became what it is today. Squanto (actually called Tisquantum) is the most interesting part of the story though and it is surprising he had any interest in helping the English out. In 1608 he was kidnapped by an Englishman and taken to work in the UK for several years. He learned the language and returned to America on John Smith's 1613 voyage - he was useful as a guide and an interpreter. He was returned to his people before being kidnapped again by one of John Smith's lieutenants along with other Indians to be sold in to slavery in Spain. Some Spanish friars found out about the slaves being sold and stopped it and tried to educate the indians in the Christian faith. Squanto escaped and made it to England. He worked there for a bit again before making it across to Newfoundland but was unable to get down to Massachusetts so returned to Ireland. He did finally make it back home a year later in 1619 with an exploratory expedition along the New England coast. He found his tribe had been badly affected by Western illnesses and settled with the pilgrims and was there to help them through the winter of 1620. He ended up being distrusted by both the Indians and the English and died with a fever in 1622, possibly a victim of poisoning. Poor guy. He crossed the Atlantic 6 times, was kidnapped twice by the English and almost sold in to slavery, yet despite all this helped the pilgrims out at Plymouth and then was possibly murdered for his trouble.