Good morning! I have some interesting historical highlights for you, including thought-provoking articles on Thanksgiving and children’s books, a cartography website and a slavery exhibit, archaeology news, and more.

To start off is a post that will make you think about (or rethink) the origins of Canadian Thanksgiving. As a Christian, I don’t have the same perspective as the blogger, but her remarks are certainly worth considering.

A 1,600-year-old roasting pit full of untouched food has been excavated at Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Alberta. “Over the next few months, we’re going to very slowly excavate through it… It’ll be a really slow process, because we’ll basically be excavating it with toothpicks and a small vacuum cleaner.”

A “groundbreaking” exhibit at Mount Vernon gives voice to the slaves who worked on George Washington’s Virginia estate.
(Check back on Monday for a post on Washington’s view of slavery.)

Fans of cartography will be interested in the launch of a new multimedia, interactive website about 16th-century cartographer Martin Waldseemüller.

The Sharing Depot in Toronto is Canada’s first “library of things.” “There you can borrow anything from tools, camping gear, and garden furniture, to children’s toys, kitchen supplies, board games, and party supplies (even cotton candy machines and disco balls!).” Memberships range from $25 to $100 per year.
I think Calgary should get one!

This article on children’s books is worth reading, if only for the C.S. Lewis quotation. 🙂

Finally, “There’s a word for your unwieldy pile of books that you know you’ll never get around to reading.”

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. (On Saturday we’re hosting a bonfire with sausages and s’mores!)