The Ingalls are "Settling In"

I much prefer Garth Williams' illustrations. 

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There was no straw or extended weather forecasts.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Early map of DeSmet, South Dakota.  Ingalls #1 is a store that Pa bought and quickly sold.  Ingalls #2 is the store where the family hunkered down for the long winter.  

Chapter 8 begins with the Ingalls rolling into DeSmet with a wagonful of belongings.  They are moving into Pa's store with the false front.  (False fronts made stores look more grandiose and also provided additional advertising space.)

Laura immediately wants to hang the curtains because she doesn't want people staring in their window.  Now, this is a darn shame because I love looking in windows when I am out walking.  My extensive data from years of casually glancing in windows is that most people hang pictures too high and don't understand scale. 

Ma tells Laura and Carrie they will start school the next day.  Laura wrestles with her inner demons.  She is afraid of meeting strangers, but she gives herself a pep talk.  "Pa said she must never be afraid and she would not be.  She would be brave if it killed her." 

I am very good at giving myself pep talks.  If I liked sports, I would be an excellent coach.  Yesterday I didn't want to be brave and spent most of the day reading Courting Mr. Lincoln.  I was in no mood for motivational self-talk and acted more like Nellie Olsen than like Laura.  

Being a single mom during a pandemic isn't great.   I was sick of giving gentle reminders (a.k.a. nagging) to my kids.  Take a shower.  Go outside.  Practice your instrument.  Help me find my coffee cup.  Talk to me. The responsibility of setting the day's tone lands on me.  I know Pa wouldn't approve of fear-based sniveling, so I returned to acting brave and peppy.  Just as Laura is brave for Carrie, I will be brave for my kids.

Straw is a stalk, usually a waste product of wheat, that's used as bedding.   Hay, typically alfalfa or grass, is used as animal feed.

Luckily, the only controversy in Chapter 8 is that straw ticks are filled with hay and not straw. Laura gives us long, cozy descriptions of their new digs.  "The creamy curtains, the varnished yellow desk and chair, the cushions in the rocking chairs, the rag rugs and the red tablecloth, and the pine color of the floor and walls and ceiling were gay."  I can easily imagine what I would see if I peeked into the Ingall's house.  

The chapter concludes with Pa musing about moving to Oregon because DeSmet is too crowded with a population of 75 to 80 people.  Ma is not having it and  firmly states - "Yes, but now is the time for the girls to be getting some schooling."

WWLD Summary:

Close the curtains.
Be brave - especially when you don't want to 
Use what you have to make your house cozy

See you tomorrow for Chapter 9, "Cap Garland."

Prairie Eydie

Forever Your Prairie Gal