Prairie Eydie's Writing Challenge - Part 2

I am NOT Kitten you when I say these delightful cards are available on Etsy at Prairie Girl Greetings.

Prairie Girl Greetings

I am 15 cards into the 30 cards in 30 Days Challenge. I wrote to my Uncle, my mom's dear friend, and a "long lost" (but never forgotten) family friend. I sent a card of courage and gratitude to a fellow middle school Reading Specialist. Sprinkled in the mix are Thank You(s), Happy Birthdays, and Missing You (Meowy Much) cards. Everyone I wrote to are people I know. Now I am ready to branch out and write some letters to people I don't know.

This is the image Harrison Ford's "people" sent me. My copy is in a box somewhere; I look forward to finding it someday.

I am going to write some fan letters. This is an activity I LOVED as a tween/teen. I would gather addresses of my favorite celebrities from Tiger Beat and Bop magazines. Hours would be spent penning just the right letter, back then I was naive and thought my letters were actually being read by celebrities. Billy Joel, Tom Wopat, Daryl Hall, and Harrison Ford are a few of the celebs I wrote to. (Harrison Ford sent me an autographed B&W photo of himself as Han Solo. He signed it in blue marker that I smudged while trying to figure out the authenticity of the signature.)  

This time around I will write fan letters to people who aren't singers or actors. 

Sharon Draper, my very favorite YA author, will be hearing from me. She is such an inspiration as she became an author after being an English teacher for years in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her books are riveting and beloved by both teachers and students. 

I love this so much!
If you need even MORE Kelly Rae, head over to her website (link below).
Kelly Rae Roberts

I will write a letter of gratitude to Kelly Rae Roberts. Kelly Rae's art and her on-line classes inspired me to start my own card line. Her art breathes gratitude, love, and courage.  

My copy is autographed, water logged, stained, dog eared, and loved.

Finally, the wonderful Natalie Goldberg will be receiving a letter of thanks. It was Natalie Goldberg's book, Wild Minds, that gave me permission to write and write and write. Wild Minds was recommended to me by my Grandma Sara, making the book even more special. 

Who wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday with these fun ladies?

If you need cards to begin the challenge, I also invite you to visit my Etsy Store, Prairie Girl Greetings, and check out my selection of whimsical cards. During the month of September, all orders under $30.00 can chose a free card. Orders over $30.00 can chose 2 free cards. Just let me know what card(s) you want in the message section. Click on the link below to get started.

Prairie Girl Greetings

Let me know who you are writing to and who have you written to in the past. I love getting new ideas. Okay, now get to writing!

Prairie Eydie

Prairie Eydie's Writing Challenge

The calendar says it is almost September. September is the second January, so it is time to introduce a fun, new challenge into our days.  

The challenge is: 

• 30 handwritten letter/cards/postcards in 30 days
• Make going to the mailbox an event again. (If I am being honest, I will admit that getting the mail, during a pandemic, is a highlight of the day.)

Here is a "Tardy Note" Bruce Springsteen wrote for a young fan who was out late Rocking and Rolling at a Springsteen concert.

Here are some FAQs

Do I have to write one letter a day?

Nope. I have been known to write 5+ notes in one sitting. The goals is to have 30 letters written in 30 days. How you reach the goal is up to you.

Can you suggest people to write to?

Sure. The list is endless. College roommates, co-workers, friends, kids, loved ones, politicians, students, doctors, teachers, dog walkers, neighbors, authors, singer,  baristas, farmers, people with birthdays, and muses. Oh. Don't forget the  2 Chit Chat Chicks. LINK

What if I only write 6 letters in 30 days?

Great. Make your own rules. Just find joy in the journey.

What should I write about?

• reminisce about a fun time
• say "Thank You"
• Send a joke
• Let someone know their Heart is never alone
• Send words of support 
• Share a recipe
• Say "Hi" and write some "news"
• Catch someone up on your life
• Send a photo
• Write a haiku
• Say congratulations
• Express yourself
• Cheer someone up. Cheer someone on.

Some of Prairie Eydie's stamps

Do I get extra credit if I make the letters all pretty?

I have been a teacher for 30+ years and am not a fan of extra credit. However, I am a fan of buying the perfect postage stamp - my favorite stamps are John Lennon, Sesame Street, and flowers.

Do my letters need to be handwritten?

Only if you want to surprise people with handwritten, stamped goodness in their mailbox. I am sure people will also love receiving texts and emails.

This is a letter Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote to a fan of her "Little House Books".

I invite you to listen to a podcast, 2 Chit Chat Chicks, that I co-host with my friend, Leah.  This week's topic is "Staying in Touch." Listen in as we talk about our favorite pens and stickers. We will also read letters from our past. Click on the link below to have some fun.

2 Chit Chat Chicks KEEPING IN TOUCH

I am sure you are missing your Prairie friends during the pandemic. Let them know you care by mailing a "Meowy" cute card.

I also invite you to visit my Etsy Store, Prairie Girl Greetings, and check out my selection of whimsical cards. During the month of September, all orders under $30.00 can chose a free card. Orders over $30.00 can chose 2 free cards. Just let me know what card(s) you want in the message section. Click on the link below to get started.

Prairie Girl Greetings

Well? Are you in? I hope so.

Prairie Eydie

Chapter 6 - "The Month of Roses"

Today, in Chapter 6, Laura lets us know her true feelings surrounding DeSmet, South Dakota. She also amuses herself with people watching to make the work day fly by. But - will Ma be amused? 

Laura calls June, "The Month of Roses". "The roses scented the wind, and along the road the fresh blossoms, with their new petals and golden centers, looked up like little faces." Unfortunately, Laura is unable to stop and smell the roses because she is hurrying to work.  

Prairie Eydie's Pink Cone Flowers dwarf the Coleus, Coreopsis, and Lamb's Ear

Being quarantined at home means lots of time for smelling and tending to my flowers. The pink cone flowers have exploded and they host fuzzy bees throughout the day.  The fading bee balm is still visited by hummingbirds, so I will wait to cut it back. The only perennial I am not on board with, is Phlox. I admit this with trepidation as my dad, Prairie Pa, is an avid "Phlox Phan." I feel Phlox is trying too hard with its blinding shade of pink, similar to an eye shadow I wore in the eighties.  

Laura, at 14, laments being too old to play. She is a working woman now and gives her wages, of $1.50, to Ma every week. The money will be used to send Mary to college. Ma feels guilty for taking all of Laura's money. But Laura says she has no use for money since she already has:

• good shoes,
• underwear,
• stockings,
• and an almost new calico dress.

If only I could channel Laura's simplicity into my own life. I seem to "need" a pricey neck cream, so I don't have to start wrapping my neck with scarves every day.  I also "need" a new pair of Birkenstocks and a pedicure to go with them. Sigh. Laura probably never considered neck's elasticity or the state of toes. (I wonder if LIW ever had polish on her fingers or toes? My guess is, probably not.)

Laura daydreams about being 16 and teaching school.  A satisfying dream because she repay Pa and Ma the money they spent raising her. I am darn sure, at 16, I wasn't day dreaming about cutting my parents a sizable check. Rather my daydreams centered around my cute boyfriend and what vintage formal I would wear to prom. I am also convinced my children have no thoughts of repaying me for all the Klarbruns, granola bars, and Cracker Barrel Mac and Cheese they have devoured during the pandemic.   

Laura doesn't hold back on her true feelings about the town of DeSmet. "The town was like a sore on the beautiful, wild prairie." LIW appeals to our senses using phrases like:
manure piles rotting
gritty dust
fatty odor of cooking
musty sourness

Laura does enjoy looking out the window while she bastes and bites off threads. One day, her attention is caught by two drunk brothers singing and kicking in screen doors all along Main Street. (They even kick in the screen door of Wilder's Feed Store!) One of the men is short and puffed out. The other man is tall and lanky. 

Surprisingly, Laura finds the drunken spectacle HiLaRiOuS. She laughs until she cries and her sides ache. Mrs. White, Laura's boss, isn't amused.  She says, "Think of the cost of all those screen doors.  I'm surprised at you. Young folks nowadays seem to have no realizing sense." 

I can kind of see why Laura found William O'Connell to be hilarious.

(NOTE: I did some digging and found out that the drunk duo weren't brothers. The short man was Tay Pay Pryor, Mary Power's dad. You may remember Mary Power as Laura's dear friend from The Long Winter. The tall man was William O'Connell. It is said that William's brother brought him West to curtail his drinking. Obviously, it didn't work since DeSmet had two saloons and Will was out carousing during work hours.)

The Three Stooges aren't for everyone.

Laura tries to convey the drunken hilarity to her family at dinner, but no one laughs. Ma says, "Goodness gracious, Laura. How could you laugh at drunken men?" (This brings me back to childhood dinners when my brother, Mark, would recount entire episodes of The Three Stooges. No eye poke or "nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" would be left out. No one was entertained by these monologues except Mark, who could barely stop laughing to tell the story.) 

There would be no sips of Chardonnay, after the chores were complete, for Ma!

Ma and Pa then discuss the disgracefulness of William O'Connell. Ma doesn't hide her feeling about alcohol. "I begin to believe that if there isn't a stop put to the liquor traffic, women must bestir themselves and have something to say about it. It's a crying shame that such things can happen before Laura's very eyes." 

The chapter ends with Pa's twinkling blue eyes catching Laura's brown eyes.  Laura then knows that Pa doesn't blame her for laughing.

What Would Laura Do:

• Notice flowers when rushing to work
• Enjoy people watching
• Be a jolly dinner companion
• Communicate with family

That is all for today, Bonnetheads! See you soon for Chapter 7 - "Nine Dollars."

Prairie Eydie

Chapter 9 - Blackbirds

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?" The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  Today we learn about destructive blackbirds, horrid corsets, and the uncertainty surrounding hoop skirts. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to reread Little Town on the Prairie to discover - What Would Laura Do?

After months of dreaming and saving money, it is finally happening. Mary is going to college in the Fall! Pa earned 100 dollars as a carpenter and the grains Pa planted are thriving. The oats and corn will be sold for cash to both buy coal and pay taxes. Plus, Ma's vegetable garden is going gangbusters! LIW writes, "There were little new potatoes for dinner, creamed with green peas, and there were string beans and green onions."

In order to "shock oats" you need to first tie bundles of oats with bands of oats. Then you must balance five bundles together and cover those bundles with two additional bundles. The stalks are spread to shelter the original five bundles. Easy Peasy!

Unfortunately, when the sun is shining on the Ingalls you can expect a plague of locust or a seven month blizzard to descend upon them. This time blackbirds beset the family. The pesky birds are eating the oats and leaving straw behind. Pa seems only mildly concerned about the birds. He says, "Never mind, there's a good crop of straw, and soon as I get the oats cut and shocked I'll clear out the blackbirds with a shotgun."  Ma sums it up by saying, "This earthly life is a battle." Can I hear an "Amen"?

Laura and Ma are making Mary's winter dress, along with six petticoats and three flannel union suits. Sewing is a complicated process involving newspaper patterns, dress maker charts, and lots of math. Laura realizes Ma hates sewing as much as she does. Bummer since women have to sew everything the family wears. If I had to sew everything for my family we would become minimalists with a capsule wardrobe of three items each. Or maybe two items. Do we really need more than a shirt and some pants?

Hand colored fashion plates from the Fall 1881 issue of Godey's Lady's book. During the "Little House" years a magazine subscription cost between 2 to 3 dollars. Ma never had a subscription and had to look at friends' magazines. 

Ma is worried. Rumors are circulating that hoop skirts are coming back into fashion. She has no way to verify fashion trends unless she walks miles to look at Mrs. Boast's Godey's Lady's book. Ma decides to cut the dress to accommodate hoops. I love how Ma and Laura want Mary to be fashionable at college. Ma's heart probably ached, knowing her sheltered, blind daughter would soon be living in a different state for seven years.   

Catch-stitching

LIW devotes pages of Chapter 9 to the tedious sewing process. Using all the pretty yarns and threads she received for Christmas, Laura is catch-stitching the hems of Mary's petticoats. Laura feels smug, knowing no one at college will have prettier underwear than Mary. 

For a tense moment, it appears Mary's dress doesn't fit. Ma, who faces every calamity head-on, seems ready to "end it" over Mary's dress. Luckily, Laura figures out that Mary's corsets are loose. The corset is tightened and the dress fits beautifully. Ma, not even caring about the sin of vanity, says "No matter where you go, you will be a pleasure to every eye that sees you. And, I am thankful to say, you may be sure your clothes are equal to any occasion."

Would Mary and Ma still wear their corsets during a pandemic?

Mary's loose corset ushers in a discussion of corsets. Ma and Mary wear their corsets 24/7. Laura cannot aide wearing her corsets to bed since she values taking full breaths of oxygen. Ma worries about Laura's figure and brags that Pa was once able to span her waist with his two hands. Laura gets a little saucy and retorts, "He can't now and he seems to like you." Laura is excited she will get to escape both her corset and sewing to help Pa with haying. 

Pa interrupts his farm work  in order to kill blackbirds. The birds have finished their first course of oats and have moved onto the second course of corn. Pa shoots so many birds that he runs out of cartridges. While Pa runs into town to buy more catridges, Ma and the girls run up and down the rows of corn SCREAMING. "And always the swirling wings rose and settled again. Always scores of blackbirds were clinging to the ears, and sharp beaks were tearing and pecking." Unfortunately, the blackbirds weren't scared and more uncommon blackbirds with red heads and yellow heads joined the common blackbirds in decimating the corn crop.

Clever Pa comes up with the idea of eating the blackbirds. Surprisingly, "Everyone agreed that they sere the tenderest, most delicious meat that had ever been on that table." One evening Ma even surprises the family with blackbird pie. As Ma always said - "There's no great loss without some small gain." Which makes me remember Prairie Pa's pandemic post - check out the link below if you happened to miss it.

Prairie Pa: Pandemic Musings

Laura begins to worry Mary will no longer be able to attend college. The corn and oats are gone. Pa will have to use his savings to buy coal and pay taxes.  But Pa surprises the family by saying to Ma, "Tomorrow's Saturday. If you'll plan to go to town with me, we can pick out Mary's trunk." 

Wait? What?!

 Pa is going to sell the heifer calf for 15 dollars and Mary will be off to college. Mary is worried that Pa is going to be set back an entire year, but intrepid Pa answers, "Now we've made up our minds you're going. A flock of pesky blackbirds can't stop us."

What Would Laura Do?

• Do her very best, even when it involves sewing
• Be generous with her sister
• Scream, wave arms, and run to save crops
• Try new foods
• Worry about finances

Okay Bonnetheads - see you soon for Chapter 10: Mary Goes to College. (Get your tissues ready.)

Prairie Eydie

Chapter 7 - Laura earns "Nine Dollars"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?" The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges.  Today we learn about Laura and Pa being laid off on the same day. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to reread Little Town on the Prairie to discover - What Would Laura Do?

The chapter begins with Mrs. White laying Laura off from her job of basting collars and whip stitching buttonholes. The Spring rush of bachelors needing shirts is over. Laura has earned nine dollars for her six weeks of work. Rather than celebrating the nine dollars, Laura feels hollow and wishes she made even more money for Mary's college fund. Once again, Laura's generous heart wanted more for others than for herself. I wish I could say the same for my children.

Currently, my boys are saving up for a Nintendo Switch. They never even mentioned buying me a outdoor rug for the deck! My daughter spends all her money on wigs and eye shadow. She shows no interest in funding her own mother's neck serum dream.   

NOTE: The following paragraph explains what actually happened. In a letter, to her daughter, Rose, Laura admits she only worked three weeks for Mr. Clancy and Mrs. White. Pa didn't like all the quarreling that happened in the Clancy household. Also, Laura boarded with the family and didn't walk back and forth with Pa. Laura was paid 75 cents the first week and, due to excellent work, $1.50 the second and third weeks. Her wages equaled 3.75, but she purchased the following items: a thimble, cloth shoes, four yards of calico, 1/2 yard silk, a plume, and a charms - so, her take home pay was only 1.09.

Mrs. Boast had her chicken game dialed in!

Now - back to the book. Laura's sagging spirits lift when she sees Pa waiting for her. He calls out, "Look what we've got, to take home to your Ma!" Pa has a bushel basket full of 14 cheeping chicks. Just as Mrs. Boast promised, at the end of The Long Winter, she has given Ma a brood of chicks. (In case you're wondering - brood means a group of chicks hatching at the same time.) 

Pa and Laura walk home, each holding one handle of the bushel basket. Pa tells Laura the, he too, has been laid off from his carpentry job. Laura sadly admits she only earned nine dollars. Luckily, Pa knows the right thing to say to cheer up his unemployed daughter. "Nine dollars is nothing to sneeze at. You've done good work, too, and fully satisfied Mrs. White, haven't you?" Laura admits she has. So Pa wraps it up with a bow by saying, "Then it's a job well done." 

Wow. How does Pa always know the right thing to say? Would it be safe to assume Pa's dad, Lansford Whiting Ingalls, always said the right thing to Pa?

Pepper, added to bran mash, was supposed to warm up the chicks and increase egg production.

Ma is delighted with the chicks and carefully lifts each chick into her apron and carries them to the coop Pa built in his spare time. Ma makes the chicks a well peppered bran mash. As an eight year old, I reread these paragraphs, enchanted by the image of Ma with an apron full of bright eyed peeping chicks. Or maybe I was curious why she didn't carry them to the coop in the bushel basket?

In the evening, Laura checks on the chicks. She is gone so long that Ma comes and joins her. Laura blurts out her wish that Mary could go to college in the Fall. Ma surprises her by saying, "It may be that she can. Your Pa and I have been talking of it." Mary's education will take seven years. Ma explains that Laura's wages will purchase materials to make Mary's best dress and maybe some velvet for a hat.

What Would Laura Do:

• Feel guilty about not earning enough money
• Look to her pa for encouragement
• Enjoy surprising her ma
• Blurt out thoughts without thinking

See you soon for chapter 8 - Fourth of July.

Prairie Eydie