You are invited to join us Thanksgiving Weekend 2023 for our annual Friendsgiving.
Please join the Newsletter to get an invite!
Friendsgiving with me, Dr. Sarah Larsen and friends, is a tradition since I first learned of thanksgiving as an immigrant to the United States of America. My sister and I made our first dinner before becoming teenagers.
My first Thanksgiving on American soil happened on Thanksgiving day. It was a meal that included a roasted turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, pecan, and pumpkin pie.
On History.com you’ll read what motivated my sister and I to make this our favorite holiday.
Thanksgiving was a day back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest feast, an event regarded as America’s “first Thanksgiving.”
More than half of the English settlers died during that first winter prior to the first Thanksgiving, as a result of poor nutrition and housing that proved inadequate in the harsh weather. Leaders such as Bradford, Standish, John Carver, William Brewster and Edward Winslow played important roles in keeping the remaining settlers together. In April 1621, after the death of the settlement’s first governor, John Carver, Bradford was unanimously chosen to hold that position; he would be reelected 30 times and served as governor of Plymouth for all but five years until 1656.
The First Thanksgiving
It was between peoples that didn’t even trust each other. Yet because the harsh winter was coming and life, their life, possibly all life was at stake. Once upon a time, enemies got together shared resources against the elements that rob life. Their story lives on because the idea is consistent with natural laws, your true nature. Even though they had fought one another yet they knew a bigger enemy was in their midst. The first peoples of the Americas gave to those trying to conquer them and Earth because valuing life, Earth, and all is about the Sacred Bond to continue life.
You may know that the first Thanksgiving in the Americas was a three day affair, within which skills and knowledge was shared along with many meals!
My musing from my heart to yours written on 17th of Nov, 2022
What a gift it is to have the energy of what you love, value and care for be amplified!
A tree in this time of year sheds all of its leaves and all of its seeds as far and as wide as it can to insure the survival and thriving of its legacy.
Our animal friends do three things to ensure life and “know” it is time to move, including the length of daylight hours, changes in available food and how much energy it takes to stay warm.
If you were in Glacier National Park in Montana, right now you would witness Clark’s Nutcracker, elk and mule deer migrating. All three of these animals live high in the mountains during summer, but travel to the mountain base in winter for better access to food and milder weather conditions.
Many of our animal friends begin two other processes to ensure they go on. Some use this time to ensure they will make it to bring by getting ready for hibernation. That is long-term dormancy, or inactivity, while “torpor” is the term to describe short-term inactivity.
The other process is called resistance or tolerance of the cold. Birds right now will fluff out their feathers to keep a layer of air around their bodies, huddle together to keep warm or roost in tree cavitie.
It reminds me of this great quote:
“In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top—the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of Creation—and the plants at the bottom. But in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as “the younger brothers of Creation.” We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn—we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way that they live. They teach us by example. They’ve been on the earth far longer than we have been, and have had time to figure things out.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer is Associate Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). She is the author of numerous scientific articles, and the book Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. She is Potawatomi and combines her heritage with her scientific and environmental passions.
The native inhabitants of the region around Plymouth Colony were the various tribes of the Wampanoag people, who had lived there for some 10,000 years before the Europeans arrived. Soon after the Pilgrims built their settlement, they came into contact with Tisquantum, or Squanto, an English-speaking Native American. Squanto was a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been seized by the explorer John Smith’s men in 1614-15. Meant for slavery, he somehow managed to escape to England, and returned to his native land to find most of his tribe had died of plague.
In addition to interpreting and mediating between the colonial leaders and Native American chiefs (including Massasoit, chief of the Pokanoket), Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, which became an important crop, as well as where to fish and hunt beaver. In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims famously shared a harvest feast with the Pokanokets.
Dr. Robin also wrote: “We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world. We need to restore honor to the way we live, so that when we walk through the world we don’t have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earth’s beings.”
2022 Thanksgiving we, (Tyler, Jasmine, Greg, Kavita, her boys Nivan and Jahan, and I) invited you to come with your open heart, your resources, and your sacred connection to Earth.
Pictures and videos will be posted here shortly!
You are invited to join us on our next annual Friendsgiving
You must RSVP to join us! This is the Sacred Celebration on Thanksgiving day to enter the gates at Bell Canyon
Wherever you come from – anywhere in the world – you will be and are a revered guest here!
A neighbor!
Just bring food and a story or two to share!
You are welcome!
Be with us and all of those that share their love, presence, and stories!
We sing, we dance, we feast and adjust inside our minds, hearts, and Oneness!
We have made it simple!
Friendsgiving is a potluck!
Thank you for reading this page and being you!
You signed up for love this true. Love, that shows up and grows inside for you!
Yes, you are forgiven before you do anything. It might take time and …
Because thanks are the stories we share!
You become relaxed and feel.
Every juicy breath here – Magic Miracle Motion!
Deep devotion!
Temple of Gandhi and Forgiveness
House of Saints and Angels
Olives and Oranges!
Food is shared!
Words are cared for!
Children play and the adults display open hearts for all to see!
Yes, whatever mind, body, and spirit transformation you bring is welcome here!
Clear thoughts and laughter with a whiff of sweet vanilla!
What to bring: One or more of these:
A plant based dish or dessert if that is what you give thanks for!
A dish you absolutely adore with animal products if this is something you consider special to share!
Ginger lemon tea or your favorite drinks to share and fruit/veggies from your trees and garden to share.
Friendsgiving is in person at a private residence in Bell Canyon, CA!
Text 424-903-6633 now to ensure space at our table
-We extend our heart
for all the details and to RSVP!
