Chapter Two - "Springtime on the Claim"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?" The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to reread Little Town on the Prairie to discover - What Would Laura Do?

Little Town on the Prairie
Chapter 2 - "Springtime on the Claim"

Chapter two starts with a brief review of the previous book, The Long Winter. LIW (Laura Ingalls Wilder) skims over the winter of 1880 - 1881. She mentions the blizzards, twisting hay, and grinding wheat in the coffee mill. 

The Long Winter was painful for LIW to relive. I sense, in her writing, an eagerness to move on cheerful memories filled with family and the prairie's beauty.  I, too, am eager to focus on happier times. Soak up this description:  "Meadow larks were flying, singing, up from the dew-wet grass. Jack rabbits hopped beside the path, their bright eyes watching and their long ears twitching as they daintily nibbled their breakfast of tender grass tips." (Full disclosure. I skipped descriptions as a young reader and love them as an adult. I currently skip text that involves a character's dreams. I don't have time for that.)

This is the first time, in the Little House series, that Laura has her braids pinned up. Our Laura is becoming a woman!

Before breakfast, Laura milks the cow, Ellen, and moves Ellen and her calves' picket lines to fresh grass. Laura also teaches the calves to drink skim milk from a bucket. (I am not sure why this is necessary.) 

Left to right:  Carrie, Mary, and Laura. Notice the added flounce on the bottom of Laura's dress to make it a proper length.

Look closely. Laura already has the determination required of a pioneer woman.

Midway into the chapter, LIW gives a brief history of each sibling, except Grace. (Just so you know, Grace is 4 and asks a lot of questions.)

MARY

Scarlet fever left Mary's clear, blue eyes sightless. She prefers indoor work to outdoor work."I must work where I can see with my fingers. I couldn't tell the difference between a pea vine and a weed at the end of a hoe, but I can wash dishes and make beds and take care of Grace."  Mary is insufferably cheerful and good, which irritates Laura. 

CARRIE

Carrie is a proud 10 year old. She is small for her age, but is able to help Mary with all the housework.

LIW also mentions that many people are arriving from out East to settle the prairie. Ma said there was no time for visiting in the Spring. Poor Ma needed some "Girl Time." It was gossipy Pa, during the long winter, who got all of the daily chit-chat and news at Fuller's Hardware store.

During the Covid pandemic, I talk daily with girlfriends. Sometimes we talk about workouts. One of my friends is training to climb a mountain and carries weighted backpacks on her runs. Another friend is committed to getting in 10,000 steps a day. In my quest to firm up my "bat wings," I have discovered (with a little help from a friend) The Lazy Dancer lean arm workouts on You Tube. 

We also talk about what we are and aren't reading. For now, I have stopped reading books about World War II (The Alice Project, by Kate Quinn, sealed that deal.) Yesterday I finished reading The Hunger Games prequel, so apparently I have no problem reading about fake, future wars. My friend, Prairie Sherry, loans me all her finished books. She devours books like I devour sugar snap peas from my garden.

Sometimes we talk about food. Last night I gave my friend detailed instructions on how to make oatmeal in the microwave. She was still making it on the stove. No one needs an extra pan to wash. I talk about ordinary things everyday with my girlfriends. But it is through the ordinary that lasting friendships are built and maintained.  I wonder what Ma talked about with her girlfriends?

The marvelous invention that saved Pa's aching back.

After breakfast, Pa goes out to break sod since he wants to plant corn. Pa has a new toy - a breaking plow!  LIW jumps into a tedious description of how the breaking plow works. Let's cut to the chase. The blade cuts through the sod and the moldboard flips the 12 inch strip of sod over. Pa is over the moon and jokes, "By jingo, that plow can handle the work by itself. With all these new inventions nowadays, there's no use for a man's muscle." Is this the same man who thought kerosene was "new fangled" a few months ago?

The breaking plow was revolutionary to Pioneer farmers. I started thinking about things that have revolutionized my life.

• The hot glue gun. Just yesterday I glued my house numbers onto freshly painted siding. Now FedEx and UPS workers can stop ringing the doorbell to double check my address.  
• The FriXion erasable pen.  This game changer was shared with me by a 7th grade boy who loved to take perfect notes.
• Enbliss bralettes from Soma. Trust me ladies.  You need a wardrobe of these comfortable beauties.  

Sheep sorrel - Sprintime? Or lemon flavoring?

In the afternoon, Laura took Mary for a walk on the prairie. Laura shows her dreamer side and Mary displays her uptight, realistic side as they discuss the ever controversial - sheep sorrel.  

Laura:  Sheep sorrel tastes like springtime.

Mary (gently correcting):  It really tastes a little like lemon flavoring. 

A buffalo wallow.

During the walk, Laura decides to come clean about wanting to slap Mary in the past.  Laura confesses, "And you always were good.  It made me so mad sometimes, I wanted to slap you. But now you are good without even trying." Mary is shocked at the confession, but Mary also has a confession to make. "I was showing off to myself, what a good little girl I was, and being vain and proud, and I deserved to be slapped for it." Now it is Laura's turn to be shocked. The confessions are soon forgotten once they reach a buffalo wallow full of violets. The violets grew "thick as honey."

Laura and Mary bring violets for Pa, Carrie, and Grace to smell. (Grace will only play in the field behind Pa.) The girls watch as Pa plants four corn kernels in a hole. Curious Grace wants to know why and Pa responds with a catchy rhyme. 

One for the blackbird,

One for the crow,

And that will leave

Just two to grow.

I think of Laura every time I pick flowers from my gardens.  I may need to plant some violets next year.

After the corn is planted, Pa decides to finish building the shanty. He adds two tiny bedrooms, each with a window, onto the main room. Laura marvels how spacious the front room is now that there are no beds in it. More lovely descriptions of home follow:  "The scrubbed board walls and the floor were a soft yellow-gray. A bouquet of grass flowers and windflowers that Carrie had picked and put in the blue bowl on the table, seemed to bring springtime in." 

A replica of Ma's whatnot shelf.

The chapter ends with a lengthy description of Ma's whatnot shelf and with Laura declaring the front room "beautiful." LIW keeps her readers hanging as she does not address what job Pa wants Laura to take in town.  

What Would Laura Do?

• Soak in nature's beauty.
• Teach animals new skills.
• Take afternoon walks, alone or with family.
• Pick flowers.
• Be curious about planting veggies.
• Delight in an orderly, clean house.

Laura had a lot to teach us today! Now, I need to head outside to water my veggies, before taking a brisk walk. . . by myself. See you soon for chapter 3 - "The Necessary Cat".

Prairie Eydie