An Unusual "October Blizzard"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were swollen river crossings, dysentery, and extreme isolation.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Chapter 4 - "October Blizzard"




Laura wakes up to Pa singing and slapping his chest.  She is confused.  The air is freezing and her quilt is coated with crackling ice, due to a leak in the roof.  Pa's foretellings were correct - an October blizzard has roared onto the prairie. (A quick recap of Pa's predictions: thick muskrat walls, eerie changes in the weather, no water fowl, and an early frost.)

Most of us would chose to stay in bed, but Laura gets up and dresses by the fire.  She notices snow has blown under the door and blanketed the floor.  She mentally adds "shoveling the shanty" to her list of chores.  Shockingly, the entire family gets up, gets dressed and does what needs to be done.  There is no floating around the shanty in ath-leisure wondering if chores can be delayed in order to binge watch snow accumulations.  

My mental health is better when I get dressed, feather on eyebrows, coat my eyelashes with mascara, and have something of a schedule to follow.  Friends suggest abandoning "real clothes" and makeup since I am sheltering in place.  "Who is going to see you?" they ask.  Well.  Me.  I am going to see me and I prefer not to be taken aback every time I pass a mirror.

The Ingalls spend the day huddled around the stove, wearing coats and wrapped in shawls.  Ma entertains the group by boiling beans.  She serves the family a warming bean broth at lunch and bubbling baked beans for dinner.  Pa lightens the mood by telling stories about "Grandpa and the Pig on the Sled".

This is a great time to both tell stories from your past and ask people about their past.  I have been playing Scrabble with my son, Gus.  A game I often played with my Grandma Edie.  While playing, I tell Gus how Grandma Edie strictly followed the rules.  For example, if your word is challenged and NOT in the Scrabble dictionary, you lose a turn.  (Gus looks up words constantly and I don't care.  We are both learning something.)  I tell Gus how Grandma would drink Mountain Dew from a coffee cup and say "Piffle, Piffle" when her letters were lame.  I like talking about my grandma and, oddly, Gus seems interested.  

The Holy Grail.  Pa's fiddle.

Pa eventually pulls out his fiddle and plays some rousing tunes.  The girls get up and briskly quick-step march around the shanty, singing with all their might.  This is the type of cozy scene I would reread as a child.  I wished my dad played an instrument and my mom would lovingly boil beans all day.  I knew the Ingalls could get through anything because they had each other.  

The chapter ends bleakly, "The blizzard lasted two more long days and two more nights."  Two more days of shoveling the shanty, shivering by the fire, and sipping bean broth.  (I worry that Ma is being too generous with the beans that need to last the family through Spring.)

WWLD Summary

• Get up.  Get dressed.  Get going.
• Use a slow cooker to make something you and your family will love.  Beans optional.
• Tell stories.  Ask for stories.  Make-up stories.  Stories matter.
• Listen to music.
• Get some exercise - even if it is just marching around your house.

See you tomorrow for Chapter 5, "After the Storm."

Prairie Eydie  (I know.  I should have ditched the aviators for a more authentic look.)





Check out this past post from Prairie Sherry.  You will learn how to decoupage a chair - step by step.  Try it!  You've got the time.

Malbec, a Chair, Lucille Ball, and Zucchini Cakes
 
  

Laura and Carrie have "An Errand in Town"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There was Nellie Olsen, Pa's wanderlust, and locust.  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 Two "An Errand to Town"  


Chapter 2 begins with more ominous foreshadowing from Pa.  An early, freakish frost has occurred and Pa remarks how surprising it is.  If I had Pa's foreshadowing skills I would have bumped my hair appointment up by a few weeks.  Ingalls-Wilder continues to sprinkle chapter 2 with description.  ". . . their slender long leaves were greeny gold and golden green in their own shade."  Magical  

Pa decides to "do it himself."

  
It appears Laura is no longer helping Pa "make hay", as she is back to delivering water to Pa.  Perhaps Pa decided it was easier to harvest hay by himself.  (Again, some things never change.)  Pa breaks a cutting bar and sends Laura on an errand to Fuller's Hardware.  Laura was filled with dread because there were so many people in town.  Nowadays I feel the exact same way.  Too many people are in town when they should be at home practicing social distance.

Laura is both nervous and excited to be sent on an errand.  She asks Ma if she can wear her Sunday hair ribbons.  Practical Ma says, "There is no reason to wear ribbons on a weekday."  Laura soothes herself by remembering she at  least has a clean calico dress and shoes to wear.  

I need to channel Laura and start caring more about my appearance.  Before going to the grocery store to buy essentials, I ask myself if my pajamas can pass as pants.  I lie and say "Yes".  Then I put on a corduroy coat so I don't have to wear a bra.  I do agree with Ma on hair ribbons.  Totally nonsensical on a weekday.

Carrie wasn't always frail and scared.  She lived 6 months a year on a claim shanty, by herself.  

Thin, peaked Carrie is given permission to go on the errand with Laura.  Carrie is struck by Laura's bravery as Laura orders and pays 5 cents for the cutter bar.  Carrie admits she feels scared when people look at her.  Laura reassures her.  "There's nothing to be scared of," Laura said.  "We mustn't ever be scared."  WOW.  There was so much for the Ingalls family to fear.  To name a few: crop failure, blizzards, isolation, and starvation.  Again, this is the brave, confident Laura we "Bonnetheads" love.

The slough - a Pioneer Corn Maze 

      
The girls unwisely decide to take a short cut through the slough, so they can quickly deliver the cutter bar to Pa.  At first the shortcut is fun and exciting, but soon becomes scary. They become disoriented and feared they were just walking in circles.  "There was nothing, nothing anywhere that she could climb to look out above them, to see beyond them and know where she was."  (Did Laura forget she had just told Carrie they must never, ever be scared?)  

At first self-isolation didn't seem that bad.  I finally had time to finish painting the kitchen, kick start my fitness routine, and watch Frozen 2.  Now self-isolation feels scary because life has been cancelled for an indefinite period of time.  I am living the same day over and over - my personal Groundhog's Day minus Bill Murray 

What would Pa have foreshadowed if he saw Almanzo lollygagging on top of the hay?

Laura and Carrie finally find their way out of the slough and discover the dashing Wilder Brothers, Royal and Almanzo.  Royal is pitching hay to Almanzo, who is lounging on the job.  Almanzo's eyes twinkle at Laura, but Laura's eyes don't return the twinkle. Luckily Almanzo can see Pa, and he points the girls in the right direction.  As Ma says, "All's well that ends well." 

Chapter 2's conclusion reminds me that our period of self-quarantine will end.  And when it ends, chance are, someone's eyes will twinkle at us.

WWLD Summary

• Take care with your appearance
• Be brave no matter what
• You will be okay, even if you feel lost now
• Think twice before marrying someone who loafs during haying season

See you soon for Chapter 3 - "Fall of the Year."

Prairie Eydie

If you have the time - check out Prairie Grlz most popular post, written by the indomitable Prairie Sherry.

Did Ma Wear a Bra?

  

Chapter 26 "A Breathing Spell" for the Ingalls

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were frostbit noses, cancelled checker games, and shrieking winds.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Chapter 26 - "Breathing Spell"

It is just another Winter day in DeSmet.  Carrie is turning, turning, turning the coffee mill's handle.  Laura and Mary are in the lean-to twisting hay.  They can only twist two to three sticks before needing to go inside and warm their hands.  Ma decides to skip washing clothes that week.  Clothes washing energy needs to be funneled into twisting hay. 
   

Grace Ingalls LOVES Pa's sense of humor.

Pa only hauled one load of slough hay.  Digging hay out of snow drifts was extremely time consuming.  Despite exhaustion and malnutrition, Pa still jokes with three year old, Grace.  Pa jests that his ears and nose grow longer every time they freeze.  He tells Grace he will look like an elephant by winter's end.  

Pa routinely rubs his nose and ears with snow to thaw them.  This never made sense to me as a kid.  Pioneers believed in treating frostbite by "slow warming."  Once in a warm environment, they would rub snow on frostbit skin so the skin would slowly get used to warmth.  Frostbite is now treated by warming the frostbit skin, rather than refreezing the skin.

How is Grace occupied during these months?  Walking around my neighborhood, I am seeing trampolines and inflated "Water Parks" pop up like colorful weeds.  I am guessing Pioneer parents didn't feel the need to entertain their children.  Sigh.  Maybe I would like being a Pioneer parent after all.

Mr. George C. Bradley came to DeSmet in 1880 and was the town's pharmacist and a darn good checker player.

Later, the Ingalls eat their one meal of brown bread and tea.  (How is Ma making the two pounds of tea Pa bought in the Fall last SO long?  I brew through at least one pound of coffee a week.  I am happy there is tea because it is one thing that gives Laura joy.)  Pa decides to go watch the bachelors play checkers at Bradley's Drug Store.  Ma encourages Pa to play a game as well.  Pa tells her,  "I'll just look on but I don't know there's anything more enjoyable than watching a good game of checkers."

Pa soon returns because the drug store was too cold for checkers.  As usual, Pa returns with some juicy news.  He tells the family, "Almanzo Wilder (19 years old) and Cap Garland (15 years old) are going after that wheat south of town." Mr. Loftus, a General Store owner, has fronted the money to buy the wheat. 

Pa lists the "ifs" surrounding the venture's success.  The venture will be succesful . . . 

• If Almanzo and Cap can find the shanty
• If the wheat's owner will sell the wheat (and not hoard it like Almanzo)
• If the clear weather holds
• If the  courageous teens make it back alive

Laura goes to bed thinking about Almanzo and Cap leaving in the morning.  Later, Laura is woken by the wind's howls.  "There has only been one short day of rest.  The blizzard would let nobody start out tomorrow to look for wheat."  

WWLD Summary:

• Complete necessary chores consistently
• Be realistic 

Prairie Eydie  entertaining a young Prairie Lulu 

See you soon for lengthy Chapter 27 - "For Daily Bread."

Prairie Eydie

"Fair Weather" On the Prairie

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were crowded kitchens, countless updates about the Tracy cut, and sullen children.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Despite the fair weather, chapter 16 kicks off with two grumpy gals.  Laura is drearily sloshing around cold dishwater when Carrie bleats out, "I'm tired of staying in this old kitchen!"  Mary points out, "We were thankful enough for this warm kitchen yesterday."  Thank goodness Mary has been maintaining her gratitude practice throughout the blizzards. 

Oh my.  If only Pa hadn't dragged his family away from Pepin, Wisconsin!  Laura could be making snow angels and pouring maple syrup on snow instead of enduring blizzard, after blizzard, after blizzard.  

Ma say the girls can go outside and their spirits are boosted.  The snow is packed so tightly Laura can't make a snowball.  Laura reminisces about the soft snow in the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin.  

As the girls breathe the frigid air, Pa zooms by on a strange sled.  Pa has caught DIY fever!  In order to move hay more efficiently from the slough, he fashioned a wide sled at the lumberyard.  Pa is worried about having enough feed for the stock.  

Laura is afraid to ask Pa about the trains since she knows Carrie is worried about the kerosene and coal shortage.  Pa soothes their fears by saying, "Tell your Ma they've brought a snowplow and a full work train out from the East and put them to work at the Tracy cut."  WHEW!  The girls are relieved and rush home to tell Ma.
  
Worry returns to the Ingall's house when Pa is late for lunch.  (Most likely, this also irritated the Masters, as lunch was late.)  Ma has finished baking bread and boiling potatoes; yet, there is no Pa.  Thoughts of claim jumpers and runaway horses fill Laura's mind.  Finally, Pa stomps into the house declaring, "I could eat a raw bear without salt!"

Over lunch, Pa tells an extremely drawn out story explaining why he was late.  Hauling hay was nightmarish because the snow was held on top of the prairie grass.  As the horses trotted out to the slough, they were constantly plunging through the crust of snow.  Every time this happened, Pa would need to unhitch the sled and lead the horses onto "hard going again."  Pa used colorful words in his story like - "rassling", "crazy-wild," and "dumb horse." 

A letter that Ma wrote in 1861.  LIW described Ma's copperplate handwriting as neat and clear.

Pa mentions that Gilbert, the mail carrier, will be picking up letters to take East.  Ma decides to finish writing her letter to the sensible folks who stayed in Wisconsin.  She needs to thaw the ink bottle before she can begin writing.  The family has suggestions for news to include in the letter.

• Laura wants her relatives to know she still has her doll Charlotte.  (This is a good time to mention that Charlotte's name wasn't Charlotte - rather it was Roxey.)
• Pa wants to add that ". . . there isn't a cat in this whole country. . ." 
• Mary, realizing the importance of strong connections, suggests telling their relatives - "We wish you could come spend Christmas with us this year like you did in the Big Woods."

Look what I received in the mail today!  Clipped newspaper articles from Prairie Pa and Prairie Ma.

I love, love snail mail of all kinds and understand the fervor surrounding Gilbert.  I enjoying buying stamps, greeting cards, and address labels.  I don't mind waiting in post office lines because I imagine how happy my friends will be to get something other than bills. 

The next day, the sky darkens and winds begin to howl.  Sigh.  The fair weather has ended.  (I hope Gilbert made it Preston with the letters.)  

WWLD Summary:

1. Go outside when you're grumpy.
2. Listen to your elders when they tell a rambling story.
3. Send newsy letters to relatives and friends "back home."

See you tomorrow for Chapter 17 - "Seed Wheat."  We will be paying a visit to those Wilder brothers.

Prairie Eydie

  

Question What You Read.

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Chapter 7 - "Indian Warning"

Salt pork is often confused with bacon.  Salt port is actually salted pork belly and is fattier than bacon.

Chapter 7 begins harmlessly enough with men gathering at Hawthorn's store to discuss the October blizzard.  The gathering includes those fetching Wilder Brothers, Royal and Almanzo.  Pa is buying salt pork.  The men are chatting away until a Native American man walks into the store.  

Breaking News:  The chapter now descends into a pit of racism and stereotypes.  People want to ban LIW books because of chapters like this.  In 2018, The Association for Library Service to Children stripped the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award of her name because of how Native Americans and African Americans are referred to in her books.  The award is now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award.

Here is some text from Chapter 7:

It was only an Indian.
"Heap big snow come," this Indian said.
"You white men," he said.  "I tell-um you."

The Native American man is warning the men about the upcoming winter.  Pa has to translate because the men are flummoxed. "He had come to tell the white men that this coming winter was a twenty-first winter, that there would be seven months of blizzards." 

Was Pa ahead of his time?

Pa returns home and informs the family they are moving into town.  They will live in a sturdy, store building Pa owns.  Now, Ma is flummoxed by the rush to move.  (Apparently she hasn't been paying attention Pa's predictions.)  Pa says, "I'm like the muskrat, something tells me to get you and the girls inside thick walls." 

Pa also mentions the Native American's warning to Ma.  LIW then informs the reader - Ma despised Indians.  She was afraid of them too.  Pa was a bit more sympathetic and insisted, "There's some good Indians."  

Now it is time for my two cents.  Obviously I don't want these books to banned, but I DO want books to be discussed and questioned.  (Did I think about these questions as an 8 year old reading this book?  No.  But I get more out of the book as an adult because I am bringing more to it.)  

Possible discussion questions :

• How does The Long Winter perpetuate stereotypes?  Do these stereo types still exist?
• Does Ma despise Indians because she is afraid?
• How does knowing the Ingalls were illegal squatters on  Osage land color your answers?  (This is documented in Little House On the Prairie.)

The chapter ends with Laura wishing for wings of a bird, so she can fly away.  Laura resigns herself to moving to town.  She doesn't want to be around so many people.  Laura and Pa would be rock stars at social isolation.

WWLD:

• If Laura was alive now, would she write her books differently?  I would like to think so, but there is no way of knowing for sure.  What do you think?

See you tomorrow for "Settled in Town."

Prairie Eydie and her Prairie Daughter on a Prairie

Prairie Eydie

Homesteading and Eating Pancakes With Almanzo

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were dangerous 3 day blizzards, men with old-fashioned views on work, and unreliable trains.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

In Chapter 11, "Three Days' Blizzard," Laura opens her eyes to a ceiling fuzzy with frost.  She immediately notices there isn't a snow drift on her quilt because Pa's store is so well built.  "Laura was stiff and sore and so was Carrie.  But morning had come and they must get up."

Millie - my currenet role model.  In this photo, she is taking her 3rd mid morning nap.

Stephen King - my role model, starting tomorrow.  (King has written at least 96 books.)

Here is a reoccuring LIW theme - when it is morning get up and get going.  At the beginning of the quarantine, I set my alarm for 5 o'clock.  I would get up, make coffee, and start writing.  My writing was moving forward and I was loving it.  I wrote furiously, with a copy of Stephen King's book, On Writing, nearby.  

Fast forward a couple weeks. (No idea how much time has actually passed.)  I no longer set my alarm, and am emmulating my overweight cat, Millie, instead of Stephen King.  My writing project is neatly stacked on top of books I don't intend to read.  Tomorrow I am back to setting my alarm and getting right to work.  If Laura can get up early to huddle around a stove all day, I can get up and start writing.

FYI:  Royal is the Wilder brother who is always lounging about.

For the first time in The Long Winter, LIW takes her focus off the Ingalls family and travels down Main Street to Royal Wilder's Feed Store where Royal lives with his brother, Almanzo.  Almanzo is making his brother fluffy buckwheat pancakes.  He is only cooking because there are no women around.  "But since they had come west to take up homestead claims they had to cook or starve."

Hmmm.  I need to take up this "cook or starve" anthem with my kids.  I am tired of cooking.  Surely they could figure something out if I stopped doing "women's work"?

A young Almanzo and his sister Alice.  Almanzo took a break from "men's work" to get his photo taken. 

Next we find out Almanzo is only 19 and the law says you need to be 21 to be a homesteader.  Luckily - " . . . Almanzo did not consider that he was breaking the law and he knew he was not cheating the government."   The chapter rambles on about the many ways homesteading rules weren't working as intended and how Almanzo was a hard worker.  "He  (Almanzo) had been doing a man's work on the farm since he was nine."  (Parents, this is a good reminder to review the chores you ask your kids to do.  Perhaps teens can do more than toss clothes down a laundry chute.) 

Royal and Almanzo have a good chit chat over breakfast.  They pose many unanswerable questions:

• Can winter last 7 months?
• Will the train be able to get through all the snow?
• Will the town insist on buying or taking Almanzo's seed wheat?

The chapter ends with Royal saying, "So long as we keep on eating, we don't have to wash the dishes."  (As if there is any chance that Royal will do the dishes.) 

WWLD:

• Get up and get going when it is morning
• Marry a hard worker who can make fluffy pancakes (if there isn't a woman around)

See you soon for Chapter 11 - "Pa Goes to Volga."

Prairie  Eydie - social distancing on Easter Sunday.

Prairie Eydie

Laura Feels "Alone"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were hellish house guests and no Spotify.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Chapter 12 - "Alone"

George and Maggie Masters went on to have five children.  The oldest child, George, was the baby who wintered with the Ingalls.  

The title of chapter 12 is "Alone."  This is a great time to mention the Ingalls were NOT alone during the long winter - they had an additional family squatting in the attic.  After a shotgun wedding, George and Maggie Masters moved in with the Ingalls, along with their baby.  Their stay was meant to be brief, but due to blizzards and George's weak character - they sponged off the Ingalls all winter.  LIW despised the Masters for decades.  They did nothing to contribute to the struggling household.  George ate more than his share of food and didn't help Pa with chores. Maggie selfishly took the warmest spot next to the stove. 

The "Little House" series is built around the Ingalls surviving, as a family unit, against the challenges of pioneer life.  I was in my forties when I found out about the Masters and felt used.  I didn't want extra people messing up my vision of Laura and her family.   If you want to read more about George and Maggie, I recommend the book Prairie Fires, by Caroline Fraser.

The school Mary eventually attended,

So, back to chapter 12.   It kicks off with Laura knitting lace and Mary talking about going to college.  I feel animosity towards Mary for constantly bringing up college while Laura has resigned herself to a life of teaching school to help support the family.  But, I also admire Ma and Pa's progressive thinking in sending Mary to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, Iowa.  (Mary completed the 7 year program in 1889.)

As a child, I remember wanting a braid as long as Mary's braid in this illustration.  I never achieved that dream.

The light disappears while Laura is counting stitches.  It is another storm!  Ma is worried about Pa.  Luckily he bursts into the living room bragging, "I beat the blizzard to the stable by the width of a gnat's eyebrow!"  

After dinner, Laura begs Pa to play the fiddle.  Pa begins the show by mimicking the sounds of the wind on his fiddle.  "Queer shivers tingled up Laura's backbone and prickled over her scalp, and still the wild, changing melody came from the fiddle till she couldn't bear it."  Buzzkill Ma puts a stop to Pa's fiddle improv by saying, "We will likely hear enough of that without your playing it, Charles"

I relate to Pa mimicking the unsettling winds.  While sheltering in place, I have been reading a lot.  Many of my book choices take place during tragic events.  I was reading Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly, at the beginning of the quarantine.  The book follows three women during WWII.  I tried to abandon the book, but couldn't.  I had to find out what happened to the characters.  I also ordered Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham.  For some reason I thought getting up to speed on Chernobyl during a pandemic was a great idea.  My daughter has the right idea, she has been listening to the Harry Potter series on Audible.  Today she is starting book three, perhaps I will join her and learn about Chernobyl another time.  

The chapter closes with the Ingalls metaphorically "hitting the hay".  Laura heads to the attic and looks out the window.  She can see nothing.   Loneliness (despite the Masters family bunking with her) and fear envelope her.  "Town and prairie were lost in the wild storm which was neither earth nor sky, nothing but fierce winds and a blank whiteness."  

WWLD

• Find a creative project and keep your hands busy
• Listen to uplifting music
• Hold a grudge for years  (Use your own judgement on this one.)

Join me next time for chapter 13, "We'll Weather the Blast."

Prairie Eydie

NOTE:  Please feel free to "reach out" if you are struggling with finding out about The Masters.  I am here for you.

    

Finally, "One Bright Day"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?"  The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  There were gigantic snow drifts and no laughing allowed at the kitchen table.  During this period of self-quarantine, I decided to reread The Long Winter to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Laura wakes up to stillness in chapter 14.  "There was no noise of winds, no swish! swish! of icy snow scouring the walls and roof and window."  There is even more good news, Laura and Carrie will be able to go to school and there is enough butter for a scraping of butter on every slice of toast.  (Did the Masters get butter on their toast?  Most likely.)

The joke has something to do with a last and an awl.  A last is form shaped like a foot.  Comment below if you "get" the humor.  

Ma's smile is like sunshine and she even cracks a joke.  As she is using the last of the butter Ma says, "This is what the cobbler threw at his wife."  Grace and Carrie don't get the joke and neither do I.  (I reread the joke and Googled it, but am still in the dark.)  Mary and Laura DO get the joke and are having fun with it.  Ma gently reminds the girls not to laugh at the table.  

I am pretty sure Ma would be appalled at my kids' table manners.  Couldn't Ma have let the girls laugh?  Things have been grim lately. 

Only the boys can slide down the snowdrifts.  Laura aptly said, "I don't think it is any fun being a young lady."

Laura and Carrie head out to school.  Surprise!  Ma offered to do the morning chores herself.  Main Street was a huge drift - taller than Laura.  The snow was packed so hard the girls' shoes, not boots, left no dents.     
Soon Laura is reunited with Mary Power and Minnie Johnson.  Minnie is insistent that Laura answer the question, "What would you do if you were caught in a blizzard."  (This is on par with me asking my friends, "What would you do in a pandemic?")  Laura evades the question by saying she wouldn't be caught in a blizzard. 

Dear Mr. Boast - lifelong friend of the Ingalls.  I can just picture him in a buffalo coat.

After a glorious morning at school, Laura and Carrie head home for lunch.  What's for lunch?  Steaming baked potatoes with salt!  What's for dessert?  Hot biscuits with Ma's rich tomato preserves.  The Ingalls are discussing how they don't need butter for their potatoes, when Mr. Boast comes in wearing a buffalo coat and bearing butter.  Truly a magical moment.

This chapter is a welcomed intermission from a sequence of worry, uncertainly, and blizzards.  The Ingalls find respite in sunshine, jokes, and seeing the faces of dear friends.  Laura says it best, "It was good to see the town alive again and to know that again all the weekdays would be school days."  
Laura reminds me to find happiness in little things:  sunshine streaming in the windows, a good book, the face of dear friends on Zoom, and sticks of butter.   

Sadly, the chapter ends with Laura dreaming that "Pa was playing the wild storm-tune on his fiddle and when she screamed to him to stop, the tune was a blinding blizzard swirling around her . . ."  Another blizzard.

WWLD:
Take advantage of people offering to help.
Breathe in fresh air and outdoor beauty.
Laugh - even at the kitchen table.
Talk with friends about cheerful matters.  

Readers have been asking me if the tree I am peeking around is significant.
Why yes it is.  This is one of the Cottonwood trees Pa planted in DeSmet, SD.
He planted one Cottonwood for each of his girls.

See you soon for Chapter 15, "No Trains."

Prairie Eydie