What I learned from Little House

As I was sorting through my books I came across the entire "Little House" collection by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I had loved these books as a girl, but hadn't thought about them in years, so I casually began to read one. Nearly immediately I was caught up in the amazing stories of one family of American pioneers. I found several things compelling, first the almost unbearable optimism of the Ingalls family, secondly their scrappy resourcefulness and third, how much knowledge they possessed-simply through experience-about survival in the natural world.

No matter what this family confronted: isolation, blizzards, plagues and all manner of nearly unthinkable hardship, they remained stalwart in their optimism, often echoing the refrain "All's well that ends well". Time and again "Pa" moved them-sometimes with no more than a few hours notice-to stranger and more remote places on the American frontier. They would build a house-complete with luxuries like window glass-and have to move suddenly and then reestablish themselves with only the contents of a covered wagon. Possessing little more than a few simple tools, basic fabric and primitive kitchen equipment they could build a house, make clothing, craft furniture and grow food to sustain a family of 6.

How is this possible, I am forced to ask myself...How could people live, and indeed, thrive with so little? How did they know when to plant and when to harvest? How to build a roof and floor? How could they have been so in tune with strange environments? None of this to say is that they did not suffer, they suffered tremendously, but they did not see it that way. Every meal was delicious, every sunset was an event in and of itself, and every gift the best ever given or received. And the next question, why can't I be more like that?

I was so taken by the simple, pastoral tableaus, and the insights into all things home and garden, that I read all 9 of the books in a few days.  What a remarkable time in our history and isn't it amazing how far we have come...