Forefather's Day

Have you ever considered how to celebrate ANYTHING without food? It is my automatic response to everything. Christmas: "What kind of dessert will I make?" New Years: "What kind of Champagne will I drink?" Saturday: "What sort of pancakes do I want?", Friday night: "Is it time for wine yet?", Birthday: "How many different kinds of cake do I get to bake?" 411th anniversary of the landing at Plymouth by the Mayflower: "Can I make cornbread, or do I have to pretend I'm starving as the poor passengers and crew were?"

Neglected item #94 on my 101 things list is to celebrate holidays "I have never heard of." As you may have guessed, I'm reaching to celebrate an obscure holiday without my typical reliance on food.

Coincidentally, I finished a book about the voyage of the Mayflower and the beginnings of modern America just days before the anniversary of the landing in Plymouth on December 21st, 1620: Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathanial Philbrick. While the book covers the story we know, it also delves into the richer history of how the colony survived through cooperation with the local tribes - and how that cooperation eroded over the years. We have forgotten most of the interesting parts of the story. And by we, I mean that 35 million - roughly 10% of the population of the United States can trace a part of their ancestry to a person who sailed on that ship. Amazing!

To observe Forefather's Day (celebrated annually in Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 22nd), I have read The Mayflower Compact which is said to have influenced the US Constitution. I may watch a movie about another first encounter Pocahontas (since I can't find a more appropriate film). I will also open my box of crayons to do a little coloring. Remember elementary school: we drew for every occasion!

Look at this amazing image of Pocahontas which I also remember from elementary school. It shocked me as a child - why would she wear clothes like that? Why would she hide her hair? Now I see it much differently: I imagine it a strange and great privilege for her. She may not have have wanted it, but she understood. While she had nothing to do with the Pilgrims, her dignity (beyond the clothes) reminds me of many of the stories I read in Mayflower about Pilgrims and Natives alike.