Thompson: Books remind us of Wilder days
I like to read in my little house that sits where a prairie used to be.
I’ve borrowed nearly the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder canon because it’s been years since I enjoyed these books.
When I was 8 or 9, I used to pretend Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace had come to the 1980s in a time machine.
I showed them the car, the TV, the sewing machine, the refrigerator.
I fed them McDonald’s.
I cured their malaria.
I can’t remember whether they ever went back to 1877.
I wouldn’t.
The stories of survival are astounding and inspiring, but more alarming than I’d remembered.
Despite Laura’s cheerful accounts of living off the land in a cozy log cabin and having pet ponies, the 1870s prairie was a more than a little scary.
If you stubbed your toe, you’d die within a fortnight. You could perish from the rickets or the queasies or the Dakota jumpies. A pack of squirrels could make off with your baby. And you could wake under 40 feet of snow and not own a pair of boots.
Of course, the Ingallses probably would find rocketing down I-90 at 85 mph or nuking microwavable popcorn much more frightening.
Also, the children’s rights movement wasn’t moving. There are a lot of passages that imply Laura fought back tears of sadness or anger because she feared punishment.
Well, Laura, there might be a little house, but there’s no crying on the prairie. The squirrels can smell your tears.
The books help one appreciate society’s progress and understand what kind of hardy people America’s pioneers were.
And the day-to-day struggles beg comparison:
1870s: Pa builds a log cabin, complete with beds, tables, chairs, fireplace and lean-to. He also builds a stable and finds the time to hand-carve lovely shelves for Ma.
2009: Dad orders a snüfelborgen with foldable glarptik from the IKEA Web site.
1870s: Ma’s big mix-up: Accidentally putting Laura’s hair ribbons on Mary and vice versa. Gasp! (Almost a whole chapter on this one, folks. Wasn’t a lot to talk about that week. I know how that goes.)
2009: Mom’s big mix-up: Leaving Billy at Girl Scouts. Hey, that minivan was really full.
1870s: Mary and Laura are ecstatic to receive a candy cane and a penny from Santa Claus (description takes up 47 pages).
2009: Children would like XBox wrapped in 50-dollar bills.
1870s: Pa’s near-death experience (one of many): He’s walking back from town when he’s caught in a blinding blizzard. Lost and cold, he falls into a pit, where he eats candy and oyster crackers for four days. Eh. Worse things could happen.
2009: Dad’s near-death experience: Finding out Bobby tried to change his own diaper.
• Jana Thompson can be reached at jthompson@nwherald.com.
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