I would have made a lousy pilgrim. I don’t like change (as I said in my September 2 blog). I get seasick. And a hotel without room service is about as rustic as I like to get. So I can’t imagine traveling about 3,000 miles across the ocean without running water, indoor plumbing, or heat.
Thinking about Thanksgiving, I was going to write the standard ‘What I’m Thankful For’ kind of blog. But I did some research about the Mayflower‘s journey, and became fascinated by the details I learned.
Did you know that, originally, two ships sailed for the New World? One, named the Speedwell, sailed from Holland to England. There it teamed up with the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic. Both ships set out on August 24, 1620. But 300 miles from land the Speedwell was leaking so much it had to return to England. The Mayflower returned, also, and the passengers who wanted to continue were transferred to the Mayflower. About 20 passengers returned to Holland. If I had been a pilgrim, that’s the group I would have been in.
Finally, on September 6, the Mayflower set out across the Atlantic again. Seasickness was rampant. The ship encountered violent storms, during one of which a main beam cracked and had to be held together with an iron screw. One passenger was swept out to sea, but the crew was able to rescue him. Amazingly, only 1 crew member and one young boy died on the two-month journey.
I admire the courage of all the pilgrims, but especially that of the 18 women onboard, three of whom were in their final trimesters of pregnancy. The irony of the story is that all the women survived the trip, but 14 of them–14!–died the first winter. One of the main reasons was that they had to continue living on the ship for 4 months after landing. So the men were out in the open air, building structures and drinking fresh water daily, while the women were confined to damp, crowded quarters where illness spread quickly. Those who survived were hardy souls indeed.
So I’ll end this with the standard list of ‘What I’m Thankful For:’ family, health, friends, my job, running water, indoor plumbing, heat, room service. But I have a couple of additions. I’m thankful for all the brave pilgrims who landed on Cape Cod nearly 400 years ago. And I’m thankful I wasn’t one of them. If I had been, my family and I would be eating Danish smørrebrød instead of turkey next week.
Glædelig Helligdag (Happy Thanksgiving)!
~Jolene Satre, Publisher
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