Chapter 33 - The Ingalls Celebrate "Christmas in May"

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

Pa has gone grocery shopping (I wonder if he patronized Mr. Loftus's - "Price Gouging General Store" or took his business elsewhere.)  Pa bought:  white flour, sugar, dried apples, soda crackers, cheese, and kerosene.  LIW conveyed a cozy family scene that she is famous for - "At suppertime the light shone through the clear glass onto the red-checked tablecloth and the white biscuits, the warmed up potatoes, and the platter of fried salt pork."

It is time to go grocery shopping when the family is eyeing up the pyramid of rotting bananas and iced coffee.  I am pretty sure the egg carton was empty.   

I understand the resulting joy from a good grocery store run.  To limit my trips to the grocery, I wait until my fridge is basically empty.  It is time to find my car keys when the kids are scrounging around the kitchen and eating soda crackers from 2017.  I love stocking the kitchen with peaches, pretzels, and grass-fed half & half.  

It is finally "Christmas Eve" in DeSmet and time to prepare a feast.  Ma doesn't need to wake Laura since she was awake at dawn - ready to bake, stew, and boil.  (I roust my teens at 1:00 PM.  They aren't capable of much for several hours.  I wish Ma had written a book called - Raising Kids - Pioneer Style.)  Laura describes picking raisins off a stem and then taking a seed out of each raisin.  Ma likes to add raisins to her apple pies.  Ma laments, to Pa, their lack of butter.  As usual, Pa makes everything right.  

Ma:  We do need some butter to go with the light bread, though.
Pa:  Never mind, Caroline.  There's tar-paper at the lumberyard now.

A photo of Mr. and Mrs. Boast.  What do you think?  Does Mrs. Boast match Laura's description?

Christmas Day in May arrives with joy.  Ma and the girls are rushing around preparing the turkey and airing out the house.  (I hope the Masters weren't invited to this celebration.)  Finally Mr. and Mrs. Boast walk in.  LIW describes Mrs. Boast:  "She was thin and the lovely rosy color was gone from her cheeks, but she was the same darling Mrs. Boast, with the same laughing black-fringed blue eyes and the same dark hair curling under the same brown hood."  

Mrs. Boast offers to help with the meal and Ma insists she sit down.  Pa, once again showing some things never change, says, "We better make ourselves scarce, Boast.  Come along, and I'll show you the Pioneer Press I got this morning."  While Laura is bustling around, she finds a small ball of butter in the cupboard - a gift from Mrs. Boast!  The meal is now complete.

The Ingalls and Boasts sit down to lavish feast.  Pa says a short grace the encapsulates everything:  "Lord, we thank Thee for all Thy bounty."  The eating begins and everyone has two plates of food before pies and cakes are brought out.  After dinner, Laura and Carrie, in a brilliant move, cover the messy table with a cloth and join everyone by the sunny window.

Flashback to Little House in the Big Woods.  I love Laura's expression.

Spring has done wonders for hard-working Pa.  He says the warmth has taken the stiffness out of his fingers and asks Laura to bring him his fiddle.  As Pa begins to play - "The lump in Laura's throat almost choked her."  Pa teaches the group a song he learned while in Vogel.  The Long Winter ends with everyone singing the chorus.  Mrs. Boast's alto.  Ma's contralto.  Laura and Mary's soprano.  Mr. Boast's tenor.  And Pa's rich bass.  (Apparently Carrie and Grace didn't contribute to the choir.)

"Then what is the use of repining,

For where there's a will, there's a way,

And tomorrow the sun may be shining,

Although it is cloudy today."

What Would Laura Do:

• Help her Ma with tedious tasks
• Anticipate fun celebrations
• Sing - in a sweet soprano
• Be grateful for the good times

Bonnet heads, we made it through The Long Winter!  See you soon for reflections.  I am interested to hear what resonated with you.  

Prairie Eydie