Wartski: A Boat to Nowhere

 

A Boat to Nowhere

Maureen Crane Wartski

Published 1980

Historical Fiction

⭐⭐⭐

I read this historical fiction to my kids as part of our study on communism in Asia. 

A grandfather and his two grandchildren, Mai and Loc, whom he had cared for after their own parents died, lived in a remote village on the farthest point of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War had ended and the communist government had moved into the South, though it had taken some time to get into this particular area. 

The day the government officials made their way into the village, it was apparent they meant to make changes immediately, instituting the confiscation of half of everything the villagers manufactured, produced, sold, or caught from the sea. If one did not agree or comply, he must attend a re-education camp. That is precisely why they intended to take Grandfather since he knew too much already. 

However, before the officials could take him away, Kien (his adopted teen grandson), along with Mai and Loc, encouraged him to escape by way of the village fishing boat, Sea Breeze. Only Grandfather knew how to navigate the stars at night and the sun by day. With his knowledge and Kien's fishing skill, they could make it to Thailand. With very little food or supplies, they evaded the officials and headed west, hopeful to make a temporary home elsewhere with the promise to return to Vietnam in the future. 

They became known as the Boat People. 

It is estimated between 800,000 to two million South Vietnamese escaped between 1975 to 1995. They fled to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and  Indonesia. Some were turned away and countless died at sea. 

Why did people flee Vietnam after the Vietnam War? Because communism is incessant and promises only hell on earth. The South Vietnamese feared retaliation, re-education (brainwashing), and imprisonment (torture). They would rather face death on the open sea -- dehydration, starvation, sharks, storms, and shipwreck -- than fall into the hands of an ideology that is cruel, wicked, and inhumane. 

While I was reading this book, I was sure it was a true story, but it is not. At best, it is an historical fiction. Sadly, Vietnam still embraces Marxist/Leninist ideologies and is governed by only Communists, but today it is considered to be a Socialist Republic. I do not know much more about what it is like to live there now and I wonder if any Boat People returned to Vietnam, like Grandfather had hoped to. 

Grandfather had never made it back to Vietnam. And he never got to see his grandchildren rescued at sea. 

* * *

DeJong: The House of Sixty Fathers

 

The House of Sixty Fathers

Meindert DeJong

Published 1956

⭐⭐⭐

Based on true events during the Sino-Japanese War, a young Chinese boy, Tien Pao, and his piglet were separated from his parents and baby sister. The Japanese had burned and occupied their village, and they were forced to flee. One day the family sampan -- carrying Tien Pao and his pig --  accidentally floated back into enemy territory. After making his way to shore, he sought to find his way back to his family through treacherous mountainous trails. Starving and exhausted, he and his pig slept in caves by day, and travelled by night. 

One of those days he witnessed the Japanese shoot down an American military plane. Tien Pao rescued the injured pilot, and with the aid of a group of Chinese guerrillas, they carried him back to his unit. And when Tien Pao arrived at the village where his parents had last been seen, the people were already fleeing because of the Japanese invasion. Tien Pao searched relentlessly until he was found by a couple of American pilots and taken to the barracks where they looked after and cared for him. All sixty pilots did. Hence the name House of Sixty Fathers. 

Meanwhile, the injured pilot whom he had met in the mountains was part of this unit, and he took Tien Pao to search for his parents. Of course, the young boy recognized his mother while she was working at a nearby airfield, and finally the family was reunited. 

This juvenile story has won many awards: Newberry Honor, Han Christian Andersen, and ALA Notable Children's Book. The author wrote this story based on his experiences as a pilot in China during WWII. 

I read this to my kids for school because we are studying China during the 1900s to current times. It was somewhat juvenile for them, but it gave them a sense of China during WWII, and when the U.S. and China were allies. Now not so much.  I also gave the book two stars because it was "agreeable" and we liked it.

From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs

From Sea to Shining Sea: 

A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs

Amy L. Cohn

Completed 1993

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When I was exposed several years ago to the teachings of Charlotte Mason, a British educator from the late 1800s - early 1900s, I completely adopted the idea of teaching my children folklore and folk songs. Of course, Mason taught folklore and songs from Britain, but I wanted to focus on the United States. And, ta-dah! I found this in my local library quite by chance - or I like to think: in God's perfect timing. So, we began incorporating the folklore and song from this book into our studies over the course of four years.

I think I have written about this book before, but now that my children and I have finally finished it, I am writing about it one last time. I cannot rave about it enough. First, it is huge, measuring almost 9X12. Second, it packs colorful, whimsical, and flavorful illustrations throughout its 370 pages. And third (my favorite), it is conveniently and smartly laid out chronologically, to some degree. At least it is chronological in a topical kind of way. 

Part I, In the Beginning, presents stories told by the Native people of America. Folklore included: "The Creation" (an Iroquois story), "Dream Song" (by the Chippewa), "The Gods Made Man" (from the Navajo), and numerous other Native tales.

Part II is From Sea to Shining Sea: Coming to America. This includes stories and songs like "The First Thanksgiving," "Sarasponda," and "Hambone." The Shot Heard 'Round the World covers the Revolutionary period and features "Paul Revere's Ride" by Longfellow, "Yankee Doodle," and "Concord Hymn" by Emerson. Bridging the Gap introduces the period following the Revolution, going over the Appalachian Mountains. We learned "Cumberland Gap," "The Birth of Davy Crockett," and "Ol' Dan Tucker." 

One of my favorite sections is Water, Water Everywhere because this was the early nineteenth century when men went to sea. We sang "Blow, Ye Winds, in the Morning," "The Erie Canal," and "Shenandoah." 

The section named Let My People Go covered the disheartening chapter in American history: slavery. We learned "Go Down, Moses," "The Sad Tale of Three Slavers," "Harriet Tubman," and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The next section was I've Been Working on the Railroad - the period after the Civil War and the opening of the West by rail. We learned "John Henry," "Drill, Ye Tarriers," "The Iron Moonhunter," and "A Gust of Fall Wind." I think our favorite was "The Rock Island Line." Next came O Pioneers! Thousands of immigrants went West to start farms and search for gold. Thence, we got "Handcart Song," "Oh, Susannah," and "Dakota Dugout." 

Part III, Only In America: Tricksters, On Two Feet, Four - or More, shares stories and songs about shrewd and crafty characters and how they outwitted their opponents. There is a section called No-sense Nonsense, presenting humorous folk songs like "Michael Finnegan," and a section called Feathers and Fur, Scales and Tails, obviously all folklore and songs featuring animals.

Of more serious sections, American Giants on the Job looks at the strong, resilient character types that went into the building of America, such as "Johnny Appleseed!" "Paul Bunyan, the Mightiest Logger of Them All," "The Story of Pecos Bill," and "I Hear America Singing," by Whitman.

A fun section is Take Me Out to The Ball Game, obviously about America's pastime, and includes: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier," and "Who's on First?" There is a Scary, Creepy, Spooky Ghost Stories section, which we passed over for school, but my kids read them all. 

Finally, Part IV is In Our Time and includes: "The New Colossus," "Big Rock Candy Mountain," "Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home," "A Shameful Chapter," and "I Have a Dream." And it ends with "This Land is Your Land."

In the back of the book, there is a glossary of terms, extra notes about the each folklore and song, and pages of suggestions for further reading. The folklore and songs are also listed in indexes by both subject and chronological order. 

From Sea to Shining Sea is a perfect resource for children and adults alike, for homeschool use, and for interest in folklore and folk song. In my opinion, it was very well done and assembled with great thought and care. We shall keep this in our library forever. 

The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The First Four Years

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Published 1971

Little House-athon

⭐⭐⭐⭐

FIRST, A PERSONAL LIFE REVIEW

This is my second attempt to catch up on all of my book reviews. There are four more left.

Life keeps giving me distractions.

First it was the start of a new school year...the next week I was not well for a time, and in between I dealt badly with relationship issues (I thought I'd have a breakdown!)...the following week my girls had four consecutive nights of exhausting dance rehearsals, followed by four long dance recitals on that weekend...

...then Nutcracker auditions and waiting anxiously for three days to see who got the part of Clara...(Sophia didn't)...last week I had an emotional meeting with a friend who I had not seen in 20 years...next, my computer broke and had to go to the shop for a week...$500!..and last Saturday a very dear friend passed away. She was 92 and like a grandma to me.

But today, my husband came home early from work to tell me...he was let go from his job. He has been the GM for a manufacturing company for six years, in which he had been an employee since 2000. The company was acquired by a larger company this year, and we had suspected this could happen; except he was assured by the new owner that he would still have a job and report to him on Day One. Well, Day One was Tuesday, and technically, my husband still had a job and did report to his new boss.

However, Wednesday was Day Two...

I am not panicking, yet. I know God knows everything before hand and is in control of all these events and particulars.

Interestingly, my husband and I have been discussing relocating to Texas because we are discontented with the direction of California. Basically, my husband and I agree we no longer feel safe to raise our children here. (Ironically, my parents moved my siblings and me to California, in 1982, because they no longer felt safe about raising us in Brooklyn! And now my husband and I want to leave California for the same reason.)

Well, it is only day one of this dilemma, and my husband and I will be doing a lot of praying and trusting God and figuring things out. Maybe this an opportunity for us to move our family to Texas. (Big Question Mark.) Just saying.

NOW, MY BOOK REVIEW

Here I attempt to write a book review of a simple book...

Laura hated farming "because a farm is such a hard place for a woman." Almanzo suggested that they give it a try for three years, and if it failed, he would "quit and do anything [she wanted him] to do."

I promise that at the end of three years we will quit farming if I have not made such a success that you are willing to keep on.

It was true, there were things Laura appreciated about farming: horses, freedom, and spacious prairies. There were other reasons, too, and hence, agreed to give it three years.

In the first year, a hailstorm destroyed their crops.

In the second year, they had Rose. A blessing.

In the third year, Almanzo and Laura got into the sheepherding business, which helped bring in income. But they also both became sick with diphtheria. Laura recovered, but Almanzo did not rest long enough to recuperate, and it caused a stroke. From then on he would need Laura's help hitching up the horses and doing other chores.

In the fourth year, the year of grace, they lost almost all of their ten acres of trees. They had to give up on the tree claim, which cost them more money if they wanted to keep the land. Laura also had a baby boy, but he only lived a few weeks. Finally, a fire destroyed their home, forcing them to move in with a neighbor, until Almanzo built them a new house.

Was farming a success?

That depended on how you looked at it. Year after year, they had suffered bad luck and faced numerous set backs, but anyone could have experienced a few years of unfortunate circumstances. At least they did well with livestock.

She was still a pioneer girl and she could understand Manly's love of the land through its appeal to herself. 

Oh well, Laura sighed, summing up her idea of the situation in a saying of her Ma's: We'll always be farmers, for what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh. 

The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The First Four Years

Laura Ingalls Wilder  

Published 1971 

 The Little House RAL

American Children's Lit

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Laura Ingalls Wilder died in 1957.  Afterward, her manuscript for The First Four Years was found, and it was decided by the publishing company and a close family friend to publish this final story of The Little House series.  It has an incomplete and melancholy feeling compared to the previous eight books, but my third read settled on an optimistic closure to Laura's stories.  

The First Four Years began a retelling of Laura's and Almanzo's wedding day, in 1885.  Laura expressed that she did not want to marry a farmer.  Proverbs must have been popular in those days because Manly, Laura's nickname for Almanzo, used them like Pa and Ma: "Everything is evened up in the end . . ."  He claimed, "Farmer's are independent," and he promised that if the farming failed after three years, he would quit and do whatever Laura wanted.  

Manly provided a ready-to-move-in home for Laura, and she "looked the place over with the pride of possession."  Often times, when Laura felt anxious about the finances or the farming or the trees not growing, she reminded herself not to worry; Manly didn't.  

Laura did not always agree with Almanzo.  For example, he lent every tool that a needy neighbor asked for, even knowing the borrower may never return it.  When Laura thought the same neighbor would ask for a hog to scald, Laura sarcastically thought she would give it to him if he asked because she knew Manly would have given it.  When a terrible hailstorm struck, Manly suggested they make ice cream.  Laura facetiously asked her visitor if she felt like celebrating, and the woman replied, "No!  I want to get home and see what happened there.  Ice cream would choke me." And later, Manly purchased a beautiful clock during a time when Laura was adding up doctor bills and costs for medicine.  She questioned his judgment, but he was not concerned.  

In their second year of marriage, Laura had a baby girl, Rose, whom she absolutely adored. Nonetheless, there was still plenty of concern about expenses.  Laura did not agree that they could afford a new stove, though she resigned that to be "Manly's business."  That's what I say, myself, when I disagree with my husband's purchases: "It's on him."   

At one point Almanzo and especially Laura were very sick with diphtheria.  Rose was spared and remained with Laura's mother.  But Almanzo suffered a stroke soon after because he overexerted himself before he was fully recovered.  Thereafter, Laura needed to help Manly with his work until he could use his hands again.  

Now there were more doctor bills, and those stupid trees weren't doing very well.  They needed more cultivation and babysitting.  Almanzo had to sell the homestead to a buyer, and he and Laura moved back to the tree claim.  Then they got into the sheepherding business.   Apparently, it was an election year and a Democrat was likely to win the White House.  "Mr. Whitehead, being a good Republican, was sure the country would be ruined.  The tariff would be taken off, and the wool and sheep would be worth nothing."  They sold Laura's colt to help buy 100 sheep, with cousin Peter, who shepherded the sheep on their property.   

In the fourth year of marriage - the year of grace, Laura called it - the crops were mostly failures.  The treacherous wind storms were a problem for the sheep, as they would roll over and over, unable to get up.  Then Laura found out she was pregnant again, which was never a pleasant time for her. Thankfully, a neighbor brought over a load of books for her to read, which was like medicine for her condition.

And now the four walls of the close, overheated house opened wide, and Laura wandered with brave knights and ladies fair beside the lakes and streams of Scotland or in castles and towers, in noble halls or lady's bower, all through the enchanting pages of Sir Walter Scott's novels.

She forgot to feel ill at the sight or smell of food, in her hurry to be done with the cooking and follow her thoughts back into the book. 

The grief of farm life continued, although she must not let her pride be a burden.  The trees were mostly lost, and Manly could not "prove-up"; he had to pre-empt the land.  Soon after, Laura delivered her baby boy, who died three weeks later.  She described the days that followed as "mercifully blurred."   Another day, a fire started in the kitchen of their claim shanty, which consumed their house and almost everything in it.  Laura felt like a failure.

Some pages back, Laura lamented how she hated farming.  During a time of weakness, she thought,
How could [I] ever keep up the daily work and still go through what was ahead.  There was so much to be done and only [myself] to do it.  [I] hate the farm and the stock and the smelly lambs, the cooking of food and the dirty dishes.  Oh, [I] hate it all, and especially the debts that must be paid whether [I] work or not.

Now after some painful suffering, and at the end of four years of farm life, Laura pondered:

It would be a fight to win out in this business of farming, but strangely she felt her spirit rising for the struggle.

The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that 'it is better farther on' - only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west.

She was still the pioneer girl and she could understand Manly's love of the land through its appeal to herself.

"Oh well," Laura sighed, summing up her idea of the situation in a saying of her Ma's: "Well always be farmers, for what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh." 

I must admit that I literally was grieved for Laura and wanted her to return to her little girl days of times past - to return to the comforts and securities of home, with Ma and Pa; but Laura, being more mature and responsible than I was at 19, was proud to be the mistress of her own domain and optimistic about the future.  

This may be the end of The Little House series, but it is not the end of Laura's and Almanzo's story, that we know. She left journals and articles and letters beyond the first four years on that first farm in South Dakota.  My family and I visited their homes in Mansfield, Missouri.  Unfortunately, you cannot take pictures inside the homes, but it was wonderful and exciting.  If you ever are in the neighborhood, don't miss the opportunity to experience it.

These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

These Happy Golden Years

Laura Ingalls Wilder  

Published 1943

American Children's Lit

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[My Little House posts are super long with lots of spoilers.  I cannot simply write a review; I have to relive each book.]

A friend looked at my bookshelves and asked me the dreaded question (and as I write this, there is a fast moving wildfire twelve miles from my house that we are monitoring):

"If you had to save one book from a fire, which book would you grab first?"  I automatically said my Bible.  She said, "Of course!" But of these books, which would you grab; and I said instantly, "My Little House series."  And if I had to narrow it down, I would save These Happy Golden Years.  Yes, this is my absolute all-time favorite of all the Little House books.  This book fills me with such joy and happiness; I want to jump into Laura's shoes.

These Happy Golden Years opened with Laura starting her first teaching job.  (Reminder: she's fifteen.) Naturally, she doubted her abilities, but Pa said, "Success gets to be a habit, like anything else a fellow keeps on doing."  His advice was to think first, then speak and act afterward.

She was to board at the Brewster's shanty, twelve miles away, for eight weeks.  That's a long sleepover for someone who has never been away from home before.  The worst part, however, was that "Mrs. Brewster was so unpleasant, Laura could hardly swallow (her dinner)." Laura referred to the Brewster's house as "horrid."  She discovered later that Mrs. Brewster was miserable because she hated living in the West.  At least Laura would be at school all day, five days a week; but then it hit her that she would be stuck at the Brewster's all weekend.  She would not be able to go home.  What a nightmare!

But that Friday afternoon, to Laura's surprise, Almanzo Wilder arrived in his sleigh to take Laura home for the weekend.  He drove twelve miles in freezing, icy wind and snow for her.  He also looked at the Brewster shanty in disgust.  (He hated Laura staying there.)  When Laura arrived home, she said she was so happy, "her throat ached.  She could hardly go to sleep."  Home was so happy, she wanted to stay there forever.

Almanzo drove Laura back to the Brewster's for week two, which was Laura's worst school week ever.  She could not manage her students.  Then she remembered how Miss Wilder must have felt when her classroom was out of control.  At the end of class on Friday, Almanzo took Laura home, and Laura had a long talk with her parents about her school.  Pa did his everybody's-free-you know-like-it-says-in-the-Declaration-of-Independence spiel again.  He added: 

1.) be patient, 

2.) see things [Clarence's] way, 

and 3.) don't force him.  

Ma shared: give way; don't pay attention to bad behavior; be pleasant and nice; and be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.  After Laura returned to school for week three, she applied her parents' advice, and it was a success. 

Every weekend Almanzo brought Laura home and back again to the Brewster's.  During one drive, Laura blurted out,

I am going with you only because I want to get home.  When I am home to stay, I will not go with you any more.  So now you know, and if you want to save yourself these long, cold drives, you can.

Yikes!  She could have kicked herself because she realized too late it could mean being stuck another three weekends at the Brewster's.  In fact, that very week, in the middle of the night, Mrs. Brewster turned into Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction and threatened her husband with a knife.  Gratefully, Almanzo came for Laura on Friday, after all.  When she thanked him for coming, he replied, "No need for thanks.  You knew I would."  She answered, "Why, no, I didn't."  And he said, 

What do you take me for?  Do you think I'm the kind of a fellow that'd leave you out there at Brewster's when you're so homesick, just because there's nothing in it for me?

Let that sink in.

Laura completed her time at Brewster's, and Almanzo took her home on the last day.  That was supposed to be the last ride.  But Laura saw the young people sleigh riding up and down Main Street, and she thought she had been forgotten, until she heard the familiar sleigh bells of Prince and Lady. Almanzo invited her to go riding.  Laura was a sucker for beautiful horses, and she instantly changed her mind about "going with" Almanzo.

Meanwhile, Laura continued her education during the week and found other jobs to do on Saturdays in town, to continue earning money.  Every Sunday after church, she enjoyed the sleigh rides behind Prince and Lady.

One week, Laura's Uncle Tom visited the Ingalls family.  On that Sunday, Almanzo came to pick up Laura for a sleigh ride.  He was quiet for a while, until he asked Laura whom "that young man was." Imagine that: Almanzo jealous!

Laura stayed several weeks with Mrs. McKee and her young daughter out on a claim shanty because Mrs. McKee was afraid to stay by herself while her husband worked in town. She complained that the man-made law was absurd.  As Laura described it, "The government bets a man a quarter-section of land, that he can't stay on it for five years without starving to death."  Mrs. McKee commented:

Nobody could.  Whoever makes these laws ought to know that a man that's got enough money to farm, has got enough to buy a farm.  If he hasn't got money, he's got to earn it, so why do they make a law that he's got to stay on a claim, when he can't?  All it means is, his wife and family have got to sit idle on it, seven months of the year.  I could be earning something, dressmaking, to help buy tools and seeds, if somebody didn't have to sit on this claim.  I declare to goodness, I don't know but sometimes I believe in women's rights.  If women were voting and making laws, I believe they'd have better sense.  

You can say that again!

Another day Mrs. McKee mentioned Almanzo, but Laura shrugged it off.  Mrs. McKee said, "Don't worry, an old bachelor doesn't pay so much attention to a girl unless he's serious.  You will marry him yet."  This shocked Laura, and she replied, "Oh, no!  No, indeed I won't! I wouldn't leave home to marry anybody."  

Laura liked the prospect of earning money for work.  Pa said, "That's the way it is once you begin to earn."  (It's liberating!)  Laura got another teaching certificate and taught a new school, closer to home, that spring.  She was so excited because she was paid a little more than a dollar a day.

But Laura still had a wandering spirit.  When she looked to the Wessington Hills, sixty miles away, she said, ". . . they make me want to go to them."  Her friend Ida replied, "When you got there they would be just hills . . ."

In a way, that was true; and in another way, it wasn't.  Laura could not say what she meant, but to her the Wessington Hills were more than grassy hills.  Their shadowy outlines drew her with the lure of far places.  They were the essence of a dream.

Walking home in the late afternoon, Laura still thought of the Wessington Hills, how mysterious their vague shadow was against the blue sky, far away across miles after miles of green rolling prairie.  She wanted to travel on and on, over those miles, and see what lay beyond the hills.

That was the way Pa felt about the West, Laura knew.  She knew, too, that like him she must be content to stay where she was, to help with the work at home and teach school. 

Back to reality, Laura continued her Sunday rides with Almanzo in the buggy.  One day he tried to make a move - ok, hardly a move; but he did try to put his arm around her, and she cut it short immediately.  She caused Almanzo's new wild colts to break into a run, and he was forced to put both hands back on the wheel - you know, the lines.  Almanzo concluded, "You're independent, aren't you?"  (He catches on quick.)

Once, Almanzo showed up on a Sunday afternoon with Nellie Olsen in his buggy.  Nellie chatted and giggled incessantly, cozying up to Almanzo.  The next Sunday, Nellie was in the buggy again.  Laura found her annoying, and knew she had to take action.  She sneakily spooked the colts into a run, and Nellie screamed with horror.  Laura thought, She would never try to hold [Almanzo], but no other girl was going to edge her out little by little without his realizing it.

Almanzo told Laura he would be back next Sunday and they would all go again.  Laura said, "We'll not all go.  If you wan to take Nellie for a drive, do so, but do not come by for me.  Good night."  And next Sunday he returned, without Nellie.  (The End.)

Almanzo bought two more new wild colts to tame, and Laura was brave to ride with him, and even to learn to drive them.  He also took her to a new singing school, which was sort of like a date.  During one of those nights, Almanzo picked up Laura's hand and proposed to her, "I was wondering . . . if you would like an engagement ring."

"That would depend on who offered it to me,” Laura told him.

"If I should?" Almanzo asked.

"Then it would depend on the ring," Laura answered and drew her hand away.

She had her ring next Sunday.  Ma said, "If only you are sure, Laura.  Sometimes I think it is the horses you care for, more than their master."  And Laura answered, "I couldn't have one without the other."

Almanzo had to go away to Minnesota for the winter, and Laura realized that she would miss him. She even felt a little insecure about him seeing old friends and girls he used to know.  (You know the feeling.)  On Christmas Eve he showed up unexpectedly, during a terrible snowstorm, but it was a wonderful reunion.  Almanzo admitted that he did not want to stay away so long.

Mary came home for another visit, and asked, "Do you really want to leave home to marry that Wilder boy?"  Laura contradicted her, "He isn't that Wilder boy anymore, Mary.  He is Almanzo." Mary persisted, "But why do you want to leave home and go with him?"  And Laura replied, "I guess it's because we just seem to belong together."

One day during church, a stray kitten and dog came into the building, and of all people, the kitten found shelter inside Laura's hoop skirt.  It took all Laura had not to break into laughter, and still Mary reproved Laura for violently shaking in silence.  After church, Mary rebuked, "Laura, I am surprised at you.  Will you never learn to behave yourself properly in church?"  And Laura replied, "No, Mary, I never will.  You might as well give me up as a hopeless case."  They all had a good laugh when she shared what actually happened.

Almanzo had urgent news.  His mother and sister were planning a big church wedding; to prevent that from happening, they needed to be married as soon as possible.  So they agreed to a quick wedding immediately.  First, Laura dropped a bomb:

Almanzo, I must ask you something.  Do you want me to promise to obey you?

Of course not.  I know it is in the wedding ceremony, but it is only something that women say.  I never knew one that did it, not any decent man that wanted her to.

Well, I am not going to say I will obey you.

Are you for women's rights, like Eliza?

No.  I do not want to vote.  But I cannot make a promise that I will not keep, and Almanzo, even if I tried, I do not think I could obey anybody against my better judgment.

The night before her wedding, Laura requested Pa play music.  He asked what she wanted to hear, and she answered, "Play for Mary first.  Then play all the old tunes, one after another, as long as you can."

The next morning she and Almanzo were married.  This was such a bittersweet time, saying goodbye to her home and family, to begin a new chapter in her life.  She once thought to herself, The last time always seems sad, but it isn't really.  The end of one thing is only the beginning of another.

When Almanzo and Laura were driving to their new home, as husband and wife, she only then realized that Almanzo had hitched Prince and Lady to the buggy, instead of the wild colts.  She exclaimed, "Why, you are driving Prince and Lady!" Almanzo replied,

Prince and Lady started this.  So I thought they'd like to bring us home.  And here we are.

On the first night in their new home, Laura's heart was full of happiness.   

"It is a wonderful night," Almanzo said.

"It is a beautiful world," Laura answered, and in memory she heard the voice of Pa's fiddle and the echo of a song,

"Golden years are passing by,
These happy, golden years." 

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Long Winter

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Published 1940

American Children's Lit

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When I started The Long Winter on June 1st, Southern California hit triple digits.  Today is the last day of June, and the heatwave continues.  At least tomorrow's high temps will only reach 99 degrees. Triple digits usually come in July and last about a week or a few consecutive days - not in June, and not for an entire month!

Reading The Long Winter during an endless triple-digit heatwave made me think about surviving unbearable conditions, with no change or end in sight.  Of course, it will end, but when you are living through it for longer than usual you feel helpless and tired and even a little worried that things will remain this way forever.  That is how Laura felt when her family survived seven months of blizzards in De Smet, South Dakota.

Speaking of LONG, my notes are excessive, but I will do my best to keep it short and sweet.   Let's start at the beginning:

Laura helped Pa stack hay; however, "Ma did not like to see women working in the field. Only foreigners did that.  Ma and the girls were American."  Leave it to Ma to admit something politically incorrect for today's audience.  Personally, I do not take offense because Ma lived during the late 1800s, and that was her world.  It was not that women were incapable - as Laura proved she was capable - but this was just the way it was in the 1800s.

Pa and Laura found a thick muskrat's home, ready for a tough winter.  Laura asked how the muskrat knew to build such a home, and Pa explained that God gave animals an instinct to know what to do; whereas, Pa said, "we're not animals.  We're humans, and like it says in the Declaration of Independence, God created us free.  That means we got to take care of ourselves."

(Of course, Pa connected everything to the Declaration of Independence.  Oh, wait! The Founders believed God created man free and independent, too.  Duh!)  But wait, there's more...Laura wondered, "I thought God takes care of us."

"He does," Pa said, "so far as we do what's right.  And He gives us a conscience and brains to know what's right.  But He leaves it to us to do as we please.  That's the difference between us and everything else in creation." 

Laura wanted to know if muskrats could do as they pleased, and Pa explained instinct to her.  Muskrats will only build the same home, but man can build any home he likes.  "So if his house don't keep out the weather, that's his look-out; he's free and independent."   (That's when Laura tried to comprehend the shanty-style house that did not keep out the weather.  Maybe man is not so sharp after all.)

Before winter, an early storm brought freezing cold temps.  Several roaming cattle froze in their place, in Pa's field.  Laura went with Pa to see what had happened and watched Pa free them from the frozen ground.  Laura tried to explain to Ma and Mary, but Mary was incredulous:

"It must be one of Laura's queer notions," Mary said, busily knitting in her chair by the stove.  "How could cattle's heads freeze to the ground, Laura?  It's really worrying, the way you talk sometimes."  

And to herself, Laura realized she could not explain how she felt, "that somehow in the wild night and storm, the stillness that was underneath all sounds on the prairie had seized the cattle."  (Yeah, how do you explain that to a realist like Mary?)

One day an Indian came into town to warn the settlers of the coming blizzards.  This prompted homesteaders to move from their claim shanties to town where they could live closer to supplies and each other.   That is what the Ingalls family did.  This also meant that Laura and Carrie could attend school, which they were both weary to do; but Laura is all for having courage in the face of fear.

For example, one day at school, a blizzard came.  Laura immediately thought how to keep warm if they had to wait out the storm: they could burn the wooden desks.  Just like her Pa, she was proactive!  Gratefully, they did not have to burn the desks because they were all escorted into town by the school superintendent.  Fear and courage makes you find ways to survive.

Almanzo, Laura's future husband, lived in De Smet, too, where he and his brother Royal were bach-ing.  Almanzo lied about his age to get a claim because he believed he was as capable as any 21-year old, to own land.  Laura explained,

Anybody knew that no two men were alike.  You could measure cloth with a yardstick, or distance by miles, but you could not lump men together and measure them by any rule.  Brains and character did not depend on anything but the man himself.  Some men did not have the sense at sixty that some had at sixteen.  And Almanzo considered that he was as good, any day, as any man twenty-one years old.

Those blizzards kept coming, one on top of another, and they prevented the trains from delivering supplies to town.  It was a burden on Laura's heart, and she tried hard to be cheerful, always.  Ma impressed upon her girls to keep their chins up.  She really was a strong woman through all of this.  Eventually they ran out of coal and had to burn hay.  They stretched out the potatoes and brown bread for food, and tea to drink, for as long as they could.  Eventually Laura lost her appetite.

Imagine how they felt when in January they learned that the trains would not run again until spring!  Pa told them the story of the engineer who tried to move the train that was buried under snow, but quit.  Each girl had a different opinion.  Carrie said she did not blame him for quitting; Laura said he should have found another way to move the train; and Mary said he should have just obeyed the superintendent.

The superintendent then tried to move the train, but failed.  And Pa said it was because he lacked patience, and Ma added perseverance.  Pa said,

"Well, he's an easterner.  It takes patience and perseverance to contend with things out here in the west."

Once Ma snapped at Charles for swearing - "Gosh dang!" - then apologized to him.  Pa understood the reason for her short temper.   Ma is never short fused.

Grace whined because her "feet's" were cold, and Laura scolded her for complaining.

"For shame, Grace!  A big girl like you!  Go warm your feet," Laura told her.

This I could not understand: Almanzo hid his good seed wheat in the wall of Royal's feed store, where they were staying in town.  But, the town ran out of food, and people were going to starve. There was a rumor that a homesteader was wintering on his claim twenty miles outside of town, and he may have had seed wheat. The men discussed going out to buy it from him to feed the people in town.  Why didn't Almanzo just sacrifice his wheat for the town?  All of his reasons make no sense to me.

Pa considered going to look for the wheat, but Ma put her foot down, literally.

Quietly she told Pa, "I say, No.  You don't take such a chance."

"Why...Caroline!" Pa said.

"Your hauling hay is bad enough," Ma told him.  "You don't go hunting for that wheat."

Pa said mildly, "Not as long as you feel that way about it, I won't.  But..."

"I won't hear any buts," Ma said, still terrible. "This time I put my foot down."

"All right, that settles it," Pa agreed.   

And this time, Ma did not apologize.  Sometimes I think women display more sense than men, and must say so.  Even Pa told her, "You're right, Caroline, you always are."  (I love it when a man can put aside his pride and admit the truth.)

Almanzo said that he was "free, white, and twenty-one; this is a free country, and he was free and independent to do as he pleased."  So he and Cap Garland risked their lives to find this unknown homesteader, in hopes that he would sell his seed wheat, if he had any at all, in order to save the town.  It was excruciatingly painful to read through; but long story short, they made it, found the man, made a deal, and brought home the wheat all in one long day's treacherous journey.

While Almanzo and Cap were traveling, another storm had come, and Pa lashed out at the wind.

Pa rose with a deep breath.  "Well, here it is again."

Then suddenly he shook his clenched fist at the northwest.  "Howl!  blast you!" he shouted.  "We're all here safe!  You can't get at us!  You've tried all winter but we'll beat you yet!  We'll be right here when spring comes!"

Charles, Charles," Ma said soothingly.  "It is only a blizzard.  We're used to them."  

Pa dropped back in his chair.  After a minute he said, "That was foolish, Caroline.  Seemed for a minute like that wind was something alive, trying to get at us."

After the storm had passed, Loftus, the store owner who provided the money for Almanzo and Cap to purchase the wheat, prepared to resell it to the families in town.  However, he charged a high price, even though Almanzo and Cap did not charge Loftus extra for hauling.  Pa told him he had a right to do as he pleased with his own property, and a profit was understandable; but he reminded him that every customer was free and independent, too.

"This winter won't last forever and maybe you want to go on doing business after it's over.  Your business depends on our good will.  You maybe don't notice that now, but along next summer you'll likely notice it."

"That's so, Loftus," Gerald Fuller said.  "You got to treat folks right or you don't last long in business, not in this country."   

In the end, Loftus sold the wheat for exactly what it cost him to purchase it.

Every day the girls ground wheat and Ma made bread.  And every day Laura felt dull and stupid and tired.  She even asked Pa if the blizzard could beat them, but Pa encouraged, "No, it's got to quit sometime and we don't.  It can't lick us.  We won't give up."

That next morning, Laura woke to the warm Chinook winds blowing.  Spring had arrived, and that meant the trains would come.  And they did.  The blizzards were done, winter was over, and the Ingalls family ended The Long Winter with Christmas in May.

Well, this was not very short, after all.  The bottom line is this: The Long Winter is essential reading material.