Little Houses

Not that long ago I re-read the Little House on the Prairie books. I've read them probably hundreds of times ever since I was old enough to read. But it was with different eyes and a different spirit that I read this time. I was more aware of the simplicity of the writing and drawn to the simplicity of the lifestyle that is chronicled there. But my eyes were also opened to the complexity of it all. And the hardship. Mostly the hardship.

For the first time I actually pictured in my mind what a barely 10x15 shanty must have really looked like (and the log home, and the mud dugout and that other claim...). And actually considered what dealing with acre after acre of hay from sun-up to sun-down for days on end must have been like (oh and then the corn, and the beans, and shearing sheep and making food and...). I am so not wired for stuff like that.

And Laura! She was 15 when she finally buckled down and went off to start teaching school. 15!!

I know that different times call for different measures, but I was sucked in to the noble simplicity of it all, and find myself quoting stories from the book as I think about my life today. I am inspired by a young girl who is overwhelmed with gratitude that she gets something (one thing!) for her very own, and then shares it with her sisters anyway. I am humbled by the tale of being grateful for a different kind of flour to use so that the bread for today looks and tastes a little different than what they ate the day before.

I'm sure that there was much more behind the scenes than the simple story that Laura Ingalls writes down, but there are lessons to be learned. A simple life that is full of gratitude, for starters...