Thanksgiving blessings

Here I'm blessed to share a meal with a group of Karo in the Omo region of Ethiopia. This is where the man in the T-shirt–he was my interpreter–lived unless it rained. His wife, in the foreground, cooked our meal. Anyone who happened by on the trail was welcomed to join us. We all ate and drank from a couple of communal dried-gourd bowls. No one went away hungry.

Thanksgiving reminds me about a presentation I gave at a college about my Africa's Undiscovered Myths project. I was showing photos of life in the remote villages I visited. During question time at the end of the presentation, a 20-something student in the back asked: "You mean people actually live like that in those mud huts with no electricity, no running water, no air conditioning?"

His question was asked in all sincerity. I answered something like, "I would guess that about 1/4 of the people on our planet live like that." He had no idea how blessed he was.

This is my youngest son–at an earlier age–finishing a picnic meal.

Here's hoping that you have lots of little blessings to count this Thanksgiving time.