Bygones, Laura!

It was raining last night and into this morning, and all our trees were covered with tiny, sparkly icicles. My picture doesn't really show them well at all, but they were very beautiful, and quite made up for the creek now running through our basement.


When I was in 5th grade, my teacher told us that she was going to read us the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder series. Previous to this, my teachers who had done read alouds had read books by a variety of authors, and my mother and I agreed that it seemed a little dull to spend the whole year with just one series. Accordingly, when my mother went in to meet with Mrs. K. for a parent-teacher conference, she mentioned how she thought it would be nice if we got to hear the books of more than one author. Little did she know the depth of Mrs. K's devotion to Laura Ingalls Wilder! Not only had she been reading the entire series to her classes for the past forty or fifty-something years, but Mrs. K. made pilgrimages to the various Laura Ingalls sites and collected memorabilia. She did not take kindly to our failure to appreciate The Little House series. The next day at story time, I was called up in front of the class. Mrs. K. explained that since I did not enjoy the Mrs. Wilder's books, I would henceforth be sent to sit alone in the library during storytime.

I can't remember how long she actually made me leave the room during storytime. I'm sure it wasn't the whole year, but my affection for the Little House books was severely dampened. Time heals many wounds, though, and last year I read Little House in the Big Woods to Travis and Katie. While I wouldn't say it kept us on the edge of our seats with excitement, it was quite educational, and tolerably interesting. I even purchased Farmer Boy, planning to read it some time this year to supplement our history studies. Mrs. K. would be so pleased.

So today at our book group meeting at the library (where I finally led the the last discussion of Black Beauty!), one of the moms asked me if Katie and I would be interested in the Little House girls' club that she is putting together. The girls in the book group, along with Katie and a couple other little girls who do library storytime while we discuss books, will meet twice a month at the log cabin on B.'s property, and do pioneer crafts, cooking, games, etc. from the Little House books, which we will read. Katie was enthusiastic, so we signed on. Another childhood trauma laid to rest!