Chapter 3: "Fall of the Year" at the Shanty

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were early frosts, eerie premonitions, and a lack of water fowl.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover what Laura would do.

The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Chapter 3 - "Fall of the Year"

Pa - Prairie Psychic

Chapter 3 begins with three days of rain.  Pa is having another eerie premonition about the upcoming winter.  Pa has "a feeling in his bones about the weather change."  Ma blows off Pa's weather visions.  "Well, we must expect it," Ma said.  "It's the equinoctial storm." (Hrumph.  Ma can be such a know it all.)  

Dear friend, Prairie Sherry, sent me a box of books.  Bless her Bibliophile Heart.

It is important to pay attention to premonitions.  In March, I had an inkling Wisconsin would be "Sheltering in Place" for longer than three weeks.  Despite this feeling, I didn't adequately prepare.  I underestimated how much I could read during a pandemic and didn't check out enough library books.  I read 5 books during week one of quarantine.  Now I am ordering books from Amazon, buying books at Target, and rereading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. 

 
October 1st brings a heavy frost to the farm - killing the hay and vegetable garden.  The Ingalls spend their day reaping the garden's "bounty."  This was their first year planting in sod ground which diminished the harvest.  (Sod ground means the soil is riddled with grass roots.  Prairie grass roots can extend anywhere from 8 to 14 feet.  Thank goodness I get my garden soil in manageable bags from Home Depot.)

The Ingalls harvested:

• 5 bushels of potatoes
• 1 bushel of beans &
• Ma preserved 2 quarts of green tomato pickles

That  meager harvest was supposed to sustain a family of 6 through an entire winter.  When I heard rumors of impending self-quarantine, I headed straight to Costco.  Now I wasn't hoarding, but I did stock up on Lozza Motzza pizzas, coffee beans, and lemons.  (Not sure why I needed a Costco size bag of lemons.  If I were Ma, I'd lift my family's spirits by baking a Lemon Meringue pie.)  I can't imagine getting through three weeks on that harvest, let alone an entire season.

Mid-chapter Pa says something curious, "When I get those few hills of corn cut, husked, and stored down cellar in a teacup, we'll have quite a harvest."  Since I have nothing but time, I went down a rabbit hole to learn what "stored down cellar in a teacup" meant.  It means - "we don't have much, but you are welcome to share what we have" OR "the meager harvest could fit in a tea cup."  I love the generous Pioneer spirit!  Pa wouldn't have hoarded toilet paper or hand sanitizer.  

Ma - A Pioneer Martha Stewart

Pa goes hunting for a brace of geese.  (In case you're wondering - a brace equals two)  Ma has intuited that Pa is depressed, so she decides to surprise him with a green pumpkin pie.  The girls are gobsmacked.  Who ever heard of a green pumpkin pie?  Ma quieted her daughters by saying, "But we wouldn't do much if we didn't do things that nobody ever heard of before."  (If only Ma had access to Twitter.)  

This got me thinking - what have I done that is innovative?  Here is a short list:  

• I removed the doors from my china hutch 
• I donated my dining room set and replaced it with bean bags and
•  I pin brooches into my messy buns.  

Nothing truly original is on my list.  Possibly it was easier to be innovative in 1882 than in 2020.    

Pa returns empty handed from hunting.  The water fowl have already hightailed it South.  Pa is sullen, but the green pumpkin pie jolts him from his gloom.  The girls circle around as Pa takes his first bite of pie.  He thinks it is apple pie!  Ma has done it again.  The pie is delicious and every bite is savored.  Laura doesn't want to drift off to sleep because she wants to keep being happy about the pie.

What I could possibly cook or bake that would make my kids so happy they couldn't sleep.  Possibly loaded nachos or the Betty Crocker classic - Cherry Berry.  Sadly, nachos and high caloric desserts aren't essential items, so my kids will stick to Lotzza Motzza pizzas and lemons.

WWLD Summary

• Pay attention to premonitions
• Use what you have - don't let things go to waste
• Share what you have with others
• Boost someone's spirits by baking/cooking something yummy

See you tomorrow for Chapter 4 - "October Blizzard."

Prairie Eydie

P.S. Discover 5 books that touched my life in this Flashback Prairie Grlz post.

Prairie Grl Writes Book List - Part one