Those folks who traveled here from across the pond, who established this Thanksgiving tradition, really did have something to be thankful for. Just making it here in those sailing ships.
Today's sailing vessels, like the one pictured here, made and sailed by my wife Ruby and myself, could sail most any direction relative to the wind, could motor in no wind conditions, could supply fresh water, even hot water, ice cubes, pretty much all the things we take for granted in today's lifestyle.
No so with the sailing ships of old. No sanitation facilities, [ the bilge stank from more than seawater] no way to keep food fresh and healthy, no way to truly know where in the hell you were, no way to sail against the wind's direction.
Those pioneering folks weren't sailors, and didn't know any about the conditions if they actually did get there. Yet get here they did,, as did the Vikings long before them, as did the native people already here. I, for one, am glad they did get here, as I now am here.