So Much To Do, So Little Time: Thanksgiving Weekend-Williamsburg Field Trip, Hanging of the Greens

The week before Thanksgiving Maddie had her second field trip to Williamsburg. The title was "Harsh World, This World" and was about slavery. The subject matter was obviously heavy and thought provoking for Maddie. Particularly since it started out with a girl about Maddie's age being sold away from her mother and brother.

Felicity came along since the field trips come from Williamsburg! At the end of the program Maddie wanted to e-mail a question to the historian. I was impressed with the quick response time and the answer which showed that the historian did actually read the entire e-mail. Here is her question:
I was wondering if the masters ever gave the slaves money? Madeline
And the response:
Dear Madeline,

Slaves were never paid a salary for their work. However, there were some opportunities for them to earn money. Some owners would permit slaves to raise crops on their own time and sell them. Also, many slaves raised and sold chickens and eggs in town. Sometimes even to their own masters. Slaves could also receive tips for errands they ran. George Washington, when he was courting Martha, was known for giving generous tips to her slaves as a way of impressing her.

Thanks for the question.

John S.

We are truly enjoying and learning so much from these!

On Thanksgiving we cooked for Jim and Louise as well as ourselves. We had fun trying to locate the dips and veggies among the legos!

Of course, with a chef in the house, I use the terms "we cooked" rather loosely! We all know who really did the cooking!

We had visitors later in the weekend. Maddie was so excited to meet Theodore, son of our friends Pete and Ruth. Are these two cute or what?

Then we rounded things out on Sunday by attending the Hanging of the Greens at church. In this time we help decorate the church, make cards for shut-ins and, this year, made an advent wreath. After that we all share a pot luck dinner and sing carols in the sanctuary with the advent wreaths lit. We had to get creative with dinner because the van broke down! So instead of the white chicken chili we had planned to bring we loaded the wagon with a platterful of fluffernutter sandwiches and walked to church. We had a great time and enjoyed the peacefulness of the hymns in the sanctuary. Maddie loved the time making ornaments and visiting with her friends from church.