Back in 2021, a lovely company here in town crafted a special tea linked to my wife’s book, We Gather Together. The tea is back as a limited edition this fall. If you never got a chance to try it, you ought to jump on the opportunity now. I have no idea how much tea is available, or how long this short run will last.

On the surface, the book is the surprising story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a woman magazine editor who lobbied several presidents before Lincoln finally acceded to her request to make Turkey Day a national holiday. But the deeper story is one of gratitude, and gives Americans a blueprint for a more inclusive Thanksgiving, sans the mythical, problematic Pilgrim-Wampanoag encounter of 1621.

The earliest celebrations of Thanksgiving in New England were distinctly regional affairs. This tea has a South Appalachian ingredient, yaupon, that has a fascinating history in its own right…