I'm all over the map I guess with my posts . . . Christmas the last one and this will be about Thanksgiving. Because I've been sorting. What's been on top of a pile now on my computer desk - culled from the mess on my craft table these three months - is what I'm blogging about.
Five cute ornaments stared me in the face a day or two from this desktop, and now this:
Five Kernels of Corn.
And haven't you heard the story of
Five Kernels of Corn? (Scroll
fast past if you have, or don't have time to linger.) It's an oldie but goodie.
"It was a cold, gray day on November 15, 1620. The
Mayflower rode at anchor near the shore while a group of eager men set out in a small boat to explore the desolate, barren land to which they'd come. One of the first things they discovered near the beach was a deserted cornfield where the dry, broken stalks rustled in the sharp wind. Nearby they saw several strange mounds. Digging into one, they were amazed to find odd-looking yellow, red and blue Indian corn. They took some with them to use for seed when they planted their crops in the spring."
"They couldn't know then how important that corn would prove to be to the colony's future"
"They weren't prepared for that first dreadful winter, and there was much sickness. Nearly half the colonists died before spring finally arrived. Of those who survived about half were children not yet sixteen years old; and only five married women remained."
"When spring came the men and boys planted 20 acres of Indian corn. Six additional acres they planted with the seeds they'd brought from England - wheat, rye, barley and peas - and there were vegetable gardens near the houses. But to everyone's dismay the seeds they'd brought failed to produce, being unsuited to the growing conditions in New England. The colonists worried whether they'd have enough food for the winter."
"Grain crops were necessary for their survival for they provided the bread and puddings that gave them the energy they needed to work and endure the harsh conditions in which they lived and the nourishment the children needed for adequate growth. To supplement their store of grain they learned, with help from the Indians, to catch the fish, to shoot the fowl and deer, and to harvest the wild fruits and berries that the forest and sea provided. They dried and preserved as much as they could in anticipation of another long winter with little grain."
"In late fall, despite their small corn harvest, they felt confident and grateful for what they'd accomplished. They decided to celebrate what they called the Harvest Thanksgiving. They were joined by 90 of their Indian friends who stayed for three days enjoying their hospitality. This was an unexpected drain on their food supplies but they believed that by careful management they would have enough to last until the next year."
"The ship
Fortune arrived a few days later. The happy Pilgrims expected to welcome members of their families and friends who had been left behind. They also believed the ship would bring food and other provisions they needed. They were distressed to learn, however, that it brought 35 colonists instead. Most of them were young men who brought no tools, bedding, or food, possessing little more than what they wore. There was nothing for the Pilgrims to do but to share their meager clothing, their homes, and their precious food with the strangers. They also had to supply food to the sailors of the
Fortune for their long voyage back to England."
"For the next six months the colonists lived on half rations and every colonist knew daily hunger. During the summer they were thin and weak and staggered as they went about their work. They might have perished had they not been able to obtain some grain from the English fishing villages further along the coast of Maine. And their harvest that fall was meager because they were still unfamiliar with growing this strange corn. Some that did mature was stolen, but primarily they were simply too weak to tend it properly. It was then that they abandoned their communal methods and apportioned land to each man to plant and farm as he wished."
"While the year before had been very bad, the Starving Time came upon the little colony the spring of 1623. Tradition tells us that each person received only five kernels of parched corn a day."
"To add to their misery the early summer weather was hot and dry and the corn began to wither. In desperation they went one day to the top of the hill to pray to God for relief. That night a soft rain began to fall and the drought was broken. At harvest every field produced an abundance of corn, with enough for everyone. After nearly three years the famine was over.style="font-size: x-small;">
by Norma Q Hare (written in 1986 and slightly edited by Mary Mitchell in 2008)
And so, what? So
what?"
"I don't know. I've saved the story for writing a poem about some day, and to keep with other Pilgrim books and stories I've been given - because William Bradford is my eighth-great-grandfather. I've been given that too as a heritage. And because isn't it inspiring? I cannot fathom the times of my progenitors, either that long ago or a mere hundred and fifty years ago. Can't fathom being oppressed or so courageous; without, and so generous. Only once in a while do I touch on stories like this because they feel so hard. Yet, didn't I love the part about them praying to God for relief?"
Don't bring me Spring in winter, or in deepest night, the Day;
But Hope in Thee to see by, full Faith to kneel and pray . . .
(This poem is in me, it'll pop out sometime!)
I'm inspired to want the positive attitude and prayerful soul of the Pilgrims. Governor Bradford wrote, ". . . our victuals are spent, not knowing at night where to have a bite in the morning, and have neither bread nor corn for 3 or 4 months together;
yet [we]bear our wants with cheerfulness and rest on Providence."
This is Thanksgiving.
