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