Love is really at the heart of life, no matter the location!

Born Under a Million Shadows 

by Andrea Busfield

This is one of the very first books the Borders Book Club read. 

It is one of my favorite books ever...and particularly of those I've read set in Afghanistan. 

While working at Borders I often recommended it as an alternative to The Kite Runner. 

I particularly appreciate the fact that BUaMS presents a much more diverse 

group of characters, and thereby, I believe, 

is more approachable for many readers than TKR might be. 

One of my favorite first sentences in any book appears here:

My name is Fawad, and my mother tells me I was born under the shadow of the Taliban. (3)

Immediately followed by

Because she said no more, I imagined her stepping out of the sunshine and into the dark,

crouching in a corner to protect the stomach that was hiding me, 

while a man with a stick watched over us, ready to beat me into the world. (3)

Yikes! I guess that sounds about right, given what I've read of the Taliban... In speaking of his friends, Spandi, Jahid, and Jamilla:

...all of us were born during the time of the Taliban, but I only heard my mother talk of them as men making shadows, so I guess if she'd ever learned to write she might have been a poet. 

Instead, and as Allah willed it, she swept the floors of the rich for a handful of afs 

that she hid in her clothes and guarded through the night. (3)

In discussing his friend, Jahid's age:

We don't celebrate birthdays in Afghanistan; we only remember victories and death. (4)

Ah. Life is truly a challenge for so many people in this world. Those of us who have no direct knowledge of such challenges to survival are truly lucky and should be appreciative of our opportunities. Of Jahid, Fawad's mother admonishes him to "keep away"...from that "dirty little thief." 

How my mother actually thought I could keep away from Jahid was anyone's guess.

But this is a common problem with adults: they ask for the impossible 

and then make your life a misery when you can't obey them. 

The fact is I lived under the same roof as Jahid, along with his fat cow of a mother, 

his donkey of a father, and two more of their dirty-faced children, Wahid and Obaidullah. (5)

Ooohhh...I can only guess that Fawad is repeating that which his mother has stated to him regarding the descriptions of his relatives. Her family had lost everything once the Taliban gained rule over the country. 

I was no expert, but it was pretty clear my mother was depressed. (6)

And who wouldn't be? Going from owning your own home to being dependent upon the generosity of your sister and her husband for food and shelter for you and your son, and to have lost your other child, your only daughter. 

It is obvious that respect for others and using respectful language is not the norm for Afghans. At one point Fawad and Jahid are fighting about money and their respective mothers, and Fawad is cruel...

My country can be a tough place to live in if you're poor, but it's even tougher if you're poor 

and ugly. And now Jahid was like stone, a stone that knows he will never find a woman 

who will willingly marry him, but whose father might agree for the right price. (9)

Therefore, Jahid was saving money to purchase a wife as an adult. Though Fawad understood his goal, he still blamed Jahid for not turning over more money to his family to help meet living expenses. How horrifying to realize as a child that the money you collect is vital to your family's survival. Their is no true childhood for these young ones; adult responsibility is thrust upon them very early. And being poor and ugly? Unfortunately, that combination is a huge challenge in any culture/society. 

Fawad describes how vendors would setup tents to sell goods to tourists at a higher price than could be found in the local bazaar.

...if they walked twenty minutes into the heaving mess of Kabul's river bazaar, 

they would find all these items for half the price, but the foreigners were either 

too scared or too lazy to make the journey--and too rich to care about the extra dollars 

that would feed most of our families for a week...as Jahid noted, 

their laziness was good for business. (10)

It is not long before Fawad's mom lands a job as a housekeeper and cook for a group of foreigners living in a house in a 'better,' more protected part of the city, behind barbed wire fencing with armed guards. 

In this house are three foreigners: Georgie, James, and May. Each of them is very different from the other and none of them is Muslim. This is a culture shock to Fawad and his mother, who have never lived with non-believers. Needless to say, Fawad is exposed to way more than he would otherwise have experienced if not living in this particular house. He spends his nights spying on them by creeping throughout the house. One night James allows him to drink beer and he gets drunk, vomiting all over himself, leaving him with a vicious hangover the next day. Consuming alcohol is an Islamic sin, so his mother makes Fawad take a job in Pir "the Madman" Hederi's shop. Per is blind and very old, though wise in his own ways as he talks to Fawad and eventually Jamilla, whom he also hires at Fawad's request. 

Despite Pir's crazy old-man ways,...there was always something a little real to his words. (195)

Fawad falls in love with Georgie at first sight and is quite annoyed at the way Khalid treats her, not calling for days and weeks, then just showing up unexpectedly and unannounced. 

His voice was deep and low, and it suited his face, which was strong and 

framed by thick black hair, a trim black beard, and heavy eyebrows. 

He looked like an Afghan film star, and I hated him for it. (44)

Ah, yes, definitely a bit of jealousy there. Fawad has a love/hate relationship with Haji Khalid Khan throughout most of the book, until he learns that he is NOT a drug runner and completely innocent of the most vile gossip circulating about him. And...that he truly does love Georgie and finally 'does right by her.' 

The Taliban cede control of Afghanistan and the new conquerors are welcomed by the citizens who share their food and wares with the soldiers. However, as Per tells the children, the Taliban were also similarly welcomed "like saviors."

Your mother was right: when they first arrived everybody more or less loved them. 

The country was being bombed to hell by warlords who worked only to fill their own pockets,   

and the people were scared and tired of being scared. 

Suddenly this group of fighters emerged from Kandahar promising order, preaching Islam, 

and hanging child rapists. Who wouldn't welcome them? (47)

The Taliban proved to be "bastards" whose leaders were even illiterate, but they learned to rule through fear, and therefore succeeded in controlling the country. 

God, Afghanistan, and the Taliban were complicated subjects when put together, 

and difficult to make sense of, especially when you were only a boy, because the bottom line 

was this: a good Muslim should never question the ways of the Almighty. 

A good Muslim would trust in God to provide, no matter what, and even if He didn't provide, 

a good Muslim would trust that the hunger, death, fighting, and disease that came to visit 

his door were all part of God's plan. And given that knowledge, the Taliban planning minister 

must have been right and his regime must also have been part of God's plan for Afghanistan. 

And that's quite an argument when you're taking over a country. (49)

And, in my humble opinion, that is one of the dangers of "organized religion": believing that you have absolutely no control or impact upon your own life...that some deity "will provide." Dangerous ground...rife for manipulation.

When a leader tells illiterate people what their 'holy book' says, how can they argue? They cannot since they can neither read nor write. 

...that's why the best weapon the Afghan people have against the Taliban or any other terrible power that may choose to put itself in Afghanistan is education. (50)

Exactly! Otherwise you are sheep willing to be led to the slaughter! As Ismerai, Khalid's uncle says,

Education is the key to Afghanistan's successful future...because it fights ignorance and intolerance and brings the blessing of opportunity. 

When a man has knowledge he has power--the power to make informed decisions; 

the power to distinguish truth from lies, 

and the power to shape his own destiny in accordance with God's will. (50)

I admit to wondering what just happened here in the US! Our country has just "elected" (well, per the electoral college system, anyway) a man who is quite ignorant and simply power-hungry...but I digress. :(

Jahid states it fairly succinctly as he and Fawad consider whether Khalid is into drugs:

Jahid shrugged. Show me a rich man in Afghanistan who isn't mixed up in drugs.

It doesn't make him a bad man, does it? This 'stoop growing poppy' shit is the West's problem,

not ours. It's all their people who are injecting the stuff and contracting AIDS off each other. We're just trying to get by. (68)

I do believe that until Afghans are provided with a decent alternative to growing poppies this agricultural crop will continue to be grown and processed. Although ongoing efforts have and are being made to this end, I'm sure there is much more progress needed. Isn't there always? And what of the 'end users'? He is correct. If 'the West' didn't purchase and use it, there would be little to no market for poppies as a cash crop. I agree with his analysis.

Fawad reflects upon his first Christmas spent with the foreigners...

As I lay in my room, I looked back on the day with all of its color and surprises--

a day when the rich sat with the poor, the Godless with the believers, 

the foreigners with Afghans, the men with women, and the children with adults. 

It was how a perfect world might be if people didn't keep strangling one another 

in rules and laws and fear. Were we really so different from one another? (83-84)

Fawad is wise beyond his years. No, we are not really so different, but we allow ourselves to be convinced that we are...and why do we keep allowing that to occur? I truly believe we have enough people to make a significant difference among humanity that believe we are very much more similar than dissimilar, but we allow political leaders to divide us. The recent US presidential campaign is, sadly, a demonstration of a significant minority even in the United States who are easily manipulated into believing they want to remain isolated as a homogenous group with little to no diversity.

Immediately following this one beautiful day, Fawad's mother becomes ill with cholera. Although this disease acts very quickly and the fatality rate is overwhelmingly high, May and Georgie are able to treat her systems and keep her hydrated so that she is able to survive and fully recover. It is at this time that Fawad learns of May's preference for women and her plans to adopt a baby if she wishes to have a family in the future. He learns it is possible in the US for same-sex couples to marry and make a life together just as any heterosexual couple. This conversation shocks Fawad who decides

I always knew the West was filled with crazy ideas, like scientists 

believing we all come from monkeys, but this was just incredible. 

I decided...I'd write to President Karzai to warn him. 

There could be such a thing as too much democracy, 

and he should be made aware of that fact. (92)

Oh, I had to laugh at this realization! I could easily understand how shocking such revelations might be to a boy of about 10 years of age who had led a very sheltered life, living only among those who believed and behaved as he was being raised to do. 😮

Fawad must remain in the house while his mother convalesces at a neighbor's house until she has regained her strength and can return. During this time, Fawad defends May's honor, realizes that one of the guards at the house loves his mother, and forms closer relationships with all three of the foreigners, particularly with Georgie. And then...tragedy really does strike, in the form of a bomb set off in the market place and shots being fired at Haji Khan. Fawad learns about the death of one friend and the near death of another friend, and the power of love. Fawad comes to the realization that

I could see that away from the politicians and their arguments, 

away from the suicide bombers and their murders, 

and away from the soldiers and their guns, people were good. 

Afghan people were good... I knew I had to try to hold on to at least that truth. (208)

Truer words were never spoken or written. 

Though not just Afghan people, ALL people the world over...are good.

We must not allow anyone to override this one truth. 

We all fight the same battles to survive and thrive.

Each of us must overcome challenges to do so.

We are definitely much more similar than dissimilar.

We are one, in the end.

I am so very glad to have revisited this wonderful book as part of 

Bex's Re-Readathon #4 this past summer!

I can hardly wait for my interview with Andrea Busfield!

I will also re-read her second book, 

Aphrodite's War.

And I am so anxious to read 

her newest release, 

The Silence of Stone.

What is one of your favorite books

set in Afghanistan?

Happy reading

--Lynn

Laura finds love...of horses and man! :)

These Happy Golden Years 

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Oh, this book! Such a beautiful story of love...

What a marvelous re-entry to the reading and blogging world 

after an almost 3-week-long hiatus due to work! 

No, this was not a self-imposed absence, but necessary, since I am old! :)

I've worked 55-60 hours each of the past 3 weeks and am so tired...

physically...and of this job!! I am hopeful that I will have a different job soon!

My apologies for being such a pitiful Read-Along cohost this month! 

But back to this gorgeous little book!

I know I've said this every time during this Little House Read-Along (#LittleHouseRAL),

but, really, I think this may be my favorite of the series!
Be sure to check out everyone else's reviews on the Little House Read-Along page!
The consensus seems to be that this one ranks as most everyone's favorite in the series!

Fortunately, Bex was much more efficient this month. Here is her THGY review! 

Laura begins teaching at the age of 15! Wow! That's young, especially when you stand only 4 feet 11 inches tall! And...you're a female! I adored the advice Pa gave her as they drove the 12 miles to the Brewster's who lived 1/2 mile from the schoolhouse where she would teach for 2 months. In reminding Laura of the time she got all the wood hauled into the house by herself on Plum Creek when he and Ma had gone to town and a blizzard had hit:

"That's the way to tackle things!" Pa said. 

"Have confidence in yourself and you can lick anything. 

You have confidence in yourself, that's the only way to make other folks have confidence in you."

He paused, and then said, "One thing you must guard against." 

"What, Pa?" Laura asked.

"You are so quick, Flutterbudget! You are apt to act or speak first, and think afterward.

Now you must do your thinking first and speak afterward.

If you will remember to do that, then you will not have any trouble." 

"I will, Pa," Laura said earnestly. (3-4)

I could so appreciate this advice; I wish someone had said the exact same thing to me when I was younger...it took many years for me to learn this lesson! :) And as usual, Laura does not forget Pa's well-meaning and timely advice; his words echo in her mind many times over these next weeks... Staying with the Brewster's demonstrated a whole new world to Laura, one in which people did not treat each other respectfully, a mother who did not properly care for her child, and eventually she is exposed to a psychotic episode in the middle of the night. This was so scary for Laura! But as she noted at the end of only her first day of school, 

I have only to get through one day at a time...

It was hard to stay where she was not wanted. She took care to make no work for Mrs. Brewster, and to help her all she could. [The second morning] politely she said, 

"Good morning," and smiled, but she could not keep on smiling.

She had not known before that it takes two to make a smile. (2)

I loved Laura's maturity at this realization! It does indeed take two to make a smile continue, doesn't it? You can seemingly only keep it going for a bit if the other person does not respond in kind.

But Laura does have an unexpected surprise at school on that first Friday afternoon...when she hears sleigh bells and sees Prince and Lady pass by the school's window. As she closes and locks the front door, none other than Almanzo is waiting for her in the brand new cutter he made! I am convinced Almanzo was well aware of at least some of the problems Laura may encounter staying with the Brewster's and was determined to rescue her each weekend he could. I loved him for that. I had to chuckle at Laura's joy being home for the weekend and her realization on that Saturday morning:

She had quite forgotten that she had ever disliked the town. 

It was bright and brisk this morning. Sunlight glinted on the icy ruts of snow 

in the street and sparkled on the frosty edges of the board sidewalk. (37)

I rather believe that if they had still been living on the claim, she would have waxed just as romantically about that, too. It was being home that made the most difference to her, in my opinion. :) And understandably so. So much better than being stuck at the Brewster's! 

With only three more weeks to teach, Laura finally decided to "stop shilly-shallying" and admit the truth to Almanzo. As they near the Brewster's she tells him,

"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." (62)

Though I felt they really took too much of a chance the very next weekend that it was 40 degrees below zero! They had to stop every little bit to clear the horse's noses and mouths so they wouldn't freeze, and I was fearful Laura would be frostbitten before they made the 12-mile trek. But they did make it, and Laura literally had to thaw out in front of the stove when she finally arrived home. Everyone was safe in the end, Laura, Almanzo, Prince, and Lady! YAY!! I breathed a huge sigh of relief! Almanzo later admitted to Laura that if not for Cap Garland's off-hand comment that "God hates a coward," while Almanzo was looking at the thermometer just before he left town to come for her on that Friday afternoon, he might not have risked the trip. Laura asks him, "So you came because you wouldn't take a dare?" Almanzo replies, "No, it wasn't a dare. I just figured he was right." :) And that sweet Alamanzo, even after Laura's declaration of not going with him any more, he still perseveres to transport her every weekend. That man is a saint! And Laura surprises herself by 'forgetting' this declaration and sleigh-riding with him as all the other couples are doing so throughout town, up and down main street! 

I loved how Almanzo got jealous of "the man" Laura "was talking with" when he picked her up to go riding with Mary Power and Cap, come springtime. How sweet! He really cares for her! I will say...Laura was never idle! Even if she was teaching throughout the week, she would still go into town and work all day hand-sewing each Saturday. She was a hard worker! Then she takes a "job" as a companion to a woman and her daughter as they live out on the claim while the husband/father works in town to make money so they can eat and survive. It was eye-opening to hear this wife cite the unfairness of the law requiring someone to live on the claim for seven years before the land becomes their own. I hadn't before considered the hardship this might place on the women/families. Laura's Pa was lucky enough to be close to town and able to walk or ride back and forth easily enough to do carpentry work when he wasn't busy working the farm in summertime. Other men had to go away to work during the summertime, too. 

Pa has already got the "itch" to relocate, but Ma is determined they are "settled" and he admits he does want to stay to prove the homestead claim. Though Laura recognizes this impatient look in his eye and thinks to herself that she is the same, not wanting to be "shut up in a schoolroom," but determined to teach to make money. It is during her second teaching stint (at a school very close to home, this time) that Pa comes up with a plan to purchase an organ and have it at home for Mary to play over the summer when she is out of school. They are all thrilled with this surprise...then Mary sends a letter stating that she wants to spend her summer with a friend from school at her house. Though it is a shock, especially to Ma and Laura, they all manage to accept it and are glad Mary has this opportunity.

Laura is all dressed up in her newest dress and "poke bonnet" and Carrie says,

"When I'm a young lady, I'm going to earn me a dress just exactly like that."

"Likely you'll have a prettier one," Laura answered quickly, but she was startled.

She had not thought that she was a young lady. Of course she was, 

with her hair done up and her skirts almost touching the ground. 

She was not sure she liked being a young lady. (164)

Aha! New territory, this "young lady" stuff, isn't it? :) Fortunately, once they were home from church that Sunday, she didn't change out of her brand-new dress, as usual. Of course, after describing all the underclothing and underskirts she had to put on, I wouldn't change either! Geeminy! It must have taken forever to get all that clothing on and properly aligned! Soon she saw a buggy come trotting toward the house, pulled by the two colts she had helped break behind the cutter that winter! But when Almanzo placed his arm along the back of the buggy seat and didn't move it when she shrugged, she gently shook the buggy whip, just enough to spook the colts who then broke into a run. "You little devil," Almanzo exclaimed! Almanzo is learning the hard way just how independent Laura is! I had to laugh at Almanzo's comment as they are returning home from this first ride in the new buggy:

"This country is settling up fast," Almanzo said as they turned west 

along the shore of Silver Lake and so toward Pa's claim. 

"We have driven only forty miles and we must have seen as many as six houses." (169)

Oh, my, that sounds even worse than me. Most of my life I have lived in the country with the nearest neighbor 1/4-1/2 mile away. And I admit I much prefer it that way. Living in town is not my cuppa tea, so to speak! Laura has even more adventures with horses and colts in her future with Alamanzo. He registers them for "singing school" in De Smet and has her handle the horses and wagon while he waits to jump in. She has to circle the school many times before he can get the timing just right to hop in and she is rather exhausted from handling the horses all that while, though she settles in and enjoys it. At one point she is driving as they go through town on the Fourth of July and everyone is just staring at her! 

Laura gets another teaching job, for three months this time and is able to stay with her friend, Florence, during the week. Since Florence didn't pass the teacher certification test but knew Laura had, she suggested her father hire Laura to teach at his new school. 

"Thank you, Florence, so much!"

"Well, you have always been so nice to me, I am glad of a chance to pay some of it back," 

Florence told her. 

Laura remembered what Ma had said about luck, and she thought to herself:

"I believe we make most of our luck without intending to." 

On one of their long rides, Laura sang Alamanzo's favorite song for him, then she said...

"I've sung for you, now I'll give you a penny for your thoughts."

"I was wondering..." Almanzo paused. Then he picked up Laura's hand that shone white in the starlight, and his sun-browned hand closed gently over it. He had never done that before.

"Your hand is so small," he said. Another pause. 

Then quickly, "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. (214)

The next Sunday Alamanzo arrived later than usual. They went to Lake Henry and ate of the frosted wild grapes. 

As they drove home the sun went down in a flaming western sky.

Twilight settled over the prairie, and the evening wind blew softly through the buggy.

Then driving with one hand, with the other Almanzo lifted Laura's, 

and she felt something cool slip over her first finger while he reminded her, 

"You said it would depend on the ring. How do you like this one?"

Laura held her hand up to the first light of the new moon.

The gold of the ring and its flat oval set shone in the faint moon radiance. 

Three small stones set in the golden oval glimmered.

"The set is a garnet with a pearl on each side," Almanzo told her.

"It is a beautiful ring," Laura said. "I think...I would like to have it."

"Then leave it on. It is yours and next summer I will build a little house 

in the grove on the tree claim. It will have to be a little house. Do you mind?"

"I have always lived in little houses. I like them," Laura answered.

They stand by the wagon and listen as Pa sings and plays the fiddle.

Then Laura held up her face in the faint moonlight. "You may kiss me good night," she said, 

and after their first kiss she went into the house while Almanzo drove away. 

Pa laid down his fiddle when Laura came in. 

He looked at her hand where the ring sparkled in the lamplight.

"I see it is settled," he said. "Almanzo was talking to me yesterday and I guess it's all right."

"If only you are sure, Laura," Ma said gently. 

"Sometimes I think it is the horses you care for, more than their master."

"I couldn't have one without the other," Laura answered shakily. 

Then Ma smiled at her, Pa cleared his throat gruffly 

and Laura knew they understood what she was too shy to say. (216)

Awww...I just had to quote this whole passage. So very very sweet! 

As Laura leaves the school building on that last day of school in March, she learns that she would have graduated had a ceremony been held and is glad of it. She shakes hands with Mr. Owen and as she descends the stairs thinks to herself,

"The last time always seems sad, but it isn't really. 

The end of one thing is only the beginning of another."

So true, isn't it? And as they travel toward her new schoolhouse, she and Almanzo talk of their own new beginning in a year's time. 

Once Laura has finished her teaching stint, she and Ma work on purchasing material and sewing sheets and pillow cases, and new clothing for Laura. Pa surprises them with a brand new sewing machine. Since he is building a herd, he had to sell a cow since he had no more room, and purchased this newfangled modern machine! It proves to be not a moment too soon! Almanzo leaves in the fall with his brother, Royal, to return to Minnesota to help their family. Laura expects him to be gone all winter, but suddenly, on Christmas Eve, as Pa is singing a song,

"Come in! Come in! Come..."

Someone knocked at the door. Pa nodded to Laura 

to go to the door, while he ended the song.

"Come in and shut the door!" 

A gust of wind swirled snow into the room when Laura opened the door; it blinded her for a moment and 

when she could see she could not believe her eyes.

The wind swirled snow around Almanzo as, speechless, 

she stood holding the door open. (229)

She could not believe it was him! But he decided he did not want to stay away so long after all. Awww...I guess he was missing her just as much as she was missing him! He brought oranges for everyone and a gold pin for Laura. As she and Carrie go to bed that night, Carrie says, 

"Isn't this the nicest Christmas! Do Christmases get better all the time?" 

"Yes," Laura said. "They do." (231)

That spring tornadoes hit and Laura and Almanzo are out in the buggy when they just escape a funnel cloud from which 2 and 3 "fingers" are dropping down periodically toward the ground. And although for many readers, I'm sure the resulting story of two boys and their two mules being picked up and blown away might seem impossible, it is not. One boy was flung to the ground a mile away from where he was lifted into the sky, naked, but basically unharmed, while the two mules and his brother were discovered in a different location, dead, all their bones broken. Having lived through the tornadoes of 1974 in the middle of Indiana, I can attest to such strange happenings. During that time, a family was safe in their bathtub, though as they stood up in the aftermath, their house was totally gone--only the bathtub remained. Meanwhile cattle were moved miles away from their own farm, some alive and some dead. Teachers at one of the elementary schools in the country were literally holding a door to a classroom where all the students were gathered, heads down, sitting on the floor and once the tornado had passed, the door just fell down to the ground, though everyone was safe! While in Indianapolis in the 1920's , my grandmother once saw a chicken driven into a tree trunk, beak first! Things happen that are definitely 'stranger than fiction' during tornadoes!

"It's a queer country out here," Pa said. "Strange things happen." 

"Yes, said Ma. "I'm thankful that so far they don't happen to us." (258)

Laura and Ma put the sewing machine to good use as they make her a new black dress of the finest cashmere and they plan her wedding dress. I had to chuckle at this conversation:

"I have an idea for making the sheets," said Laura.

"I'm not going to sew those long seams down the middle with over-and-over stitch by hand. If I lap the edges flat and sew with the machine down the center, I do believe they'll be smooth enough and even more serviceable."

"It may well be," said Ma. "Our grandmothers would turn in their graves, but after all, these are modern times." (265)

Hah! Modern times, eh? Well, it was a "modern" idea for their time, wasn't it?

Then Almanzo shows up unexpectedly, on a TUESDAY! His sister and mother are planning to come out and "take over" his wedding to Laura. They want a big church wedding that Almanzo feels he cannot afford and Laura knows her own father could not afford, so the only way he can see to avoid this whole scene is for them to marry NOW. By NOW he means later in the week or early the next week. So, although Laura will not officially have a "wedding dress," she will have a new one of black cashmere, and she and Ma work feverishly to complete all the necessary sewing. Pa brings a new trunk from town and all her things are packed and ready for Almanzo to pick up the following Wednesday and that Thursday morning they go to Reverend Brown's to be married, but not before Laura speaks up...

...she summoned all her courage and said, 

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

Soberly he answered, "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, nor any decent man that wanted her to."

"Well, I am not going to say I will obey you," said Laura. (269)

Laura goes on to say that while she doesn't want to vote, she will not make a promise she cannot keep. Almanzo reassures her that Reverend Brown is related to the John Brown of Kansas and has removed "obey" from the wedding vows anyway. :) Laura is both surprised and relieved. 

As Almanzo prepares to leave with all Laura's things the day before their wedding, Pa had a final surprise for them!

...he came around the corner of the house, leading Laura's 

favorite young cow. She was fawn-colored all over and gentle. Quietly Pa tied her behind the wagon, then threw her picket rope into the wagon as he said, "Her picket rope goes with her."

"Oh, Pa!" Laura cried. "Do you really mean 

I may take Fawn with me?" 

"That is exactly what I do mean!" Pa said. 

"Be a pity if you couldn't have one calf out of all you have helped to raise."

Laura could not speak, but she gave Pa a look that thanked him. 

"You think it is safe to tie her behind those horses?" Ma asked... (275)

Ha! Ha! Poor Ma! She never did quite trust those horses of Almanzo's! :)

To celebrate her last night at home, Pa played whatever she wanted to hear on his fiddle and sang for her. She could not believe that she would leave home forever tomorrow morning, never to return to it as her "home" again. But that next day, as she and Almanzo settle in, she realizes that evening that she was close enough to always go home if she wanted to, and that this was now her home, and she was happy. 

"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... (289)

Golden years are passing by,

Happy, happy golden years,

Passing on the wings of time,

These happy golden years.

Call them back as they go by,

Sweet their memories are,

Oh, improve them as they fly,

These happy golden years.

Laura's heart ached as the music floated away and was gone in the spring night under the stars. (156)

Ah, be still my heart!

This is one of the sweetest books and love stories I've read in a very long time...

If you've not yet read this series, I would encourage you to do so.

It is amazing!

Happy reading!

--Lynn

De Smet, Iowa comes into its own as a real town!

Little Town on the Prairie 

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I love this older cover image to the left!

I can imagine that as Laura walking down the 

ever-growing Main Street in De Smet. 

As I read through this series I keep thinking there will eventually be ONE of these books that really doesn't 

'grab my attention' or resonate with me very well...

But, thankfully, that day never comes! :)

Each book is enthralling and endearing in its own way. 

I am thrilled my grandchildren will have the opportunity 

to read these and won't miss out on them 

as I somehow managed to do as a child! :)

Work has kept me so busy that I've 

not had much time to blog. 

But here is my review of this month's 

Little House Read-Along 2016 installment, just before month's end. 

In case you were unaware, Bex of 

An Armchair by the Sea and myself are cohosting a Little House Read-Along 

this year. You can join in whenever you please...or not. You're welcome to 
peruse all the reviews or 
some of them, etc. 

Whatever works for you! 

We post a link-up introductory posting 

at the beginning of each month and 

then I add links to all the month's reviews at my #littlehouseRAL home page, so you can access everything there. 

I've even been able to add a couple of reviews that were not necessarily part of this 
read-along (with permission of the bloggers), so it provides much diversity! 

This month's book was just so much fun! It was wonderful to see how Laura did eventually learn to enjoy living in town. Of course, she was now a teenager (a 'grown woman' in her day), and I believe it helped that Nellie Oleson was forced to live in the country, pretty far from town, so she couldn't berate the Ingalls as "country girls" any more! In fact, the opposite was now true! Though the Ingalls only moved to Pa's store in town during the winter. The rest of the time (the growing season) they spent on their claim, raising crops and a garden, and preserving food. So really, they had the best of both worlds.

Pa shocked everyone by asking one evening at supper,

"How would you like to work in town, Laura?" Laura could not say a word. 

Neither could any of the others. They all sat as if they were frozen. 

Grace's blue eyes stared over the rim of her tin cup, Carrie's teeth stayed bitten into 

a slice of bread, and Mary's hand held her fork stopped in the air. 

Ma let tea go pouring from the teapot's spout into Pa's brimming cup. 

Just in time, she quickly set down the teapot. (1)

I did kinda have to laugh at Ma's immediate reaction,

"A job? For a girl? In town?" Ma said. "Why, what kind of a job--" Then quickly she said,

"No, Charles, I won't have Laura working out in a hotel among all kinds of strangers."

"Who said such a thing?" Pa demanded. 

"No girl of ours'll do that, not while I'm alive and kicking." (2)

These books just make me realize all the more how differently society felt about so many things back then compared to now...

"What other kind of work can there be? And Laura not old enough to teach school yet." (2)

Laura only had to be 16 years old and pass an exam to become a certified teacher. (Wow...only 16! And just one test!)

All in the minute before Pa began to explain, Laura thought of the town, 

and of the homestead claim where they were all so happy now in the springtime, 

and she did not want anything changed. She did not want to work in town. (2)

What patience!

After all, they had all just barely survived that horrid long winter of 7 months of blizzards! 

Then we get a description of the springtime thus far and how wonderfully happy Laura (and I think they all were) to get back out on the land. Having 'bucket-fed' calves on my grandmother's farm as a youngster, I could relate to Laura's patience with teaching the young calf how to drink it's milk. (In order to milk the cow, the calf would need to eat by other means...) I realized how much easier I had it! 

And they still had to battle the 'varmints' for their food! Not grasshoppers this time, but the "striped gophers" ate the seed corn as fast as Pa planted it. The blackbird flocks were so huge as to block the sunshine, as they ate the corn right out of the husks! There was always a struggle awaiting these frontier settlers. And as you can imagine, inside the house was just as bad, if not worse! (Remember, there were no plastic containers or bags back then!) There were so many mice that it was quite a coup when Pa managed to bring home a little bitty kitty for them to raise and keep as a mouser! When it was still just a very tiny thing, it managed to "catch" a mouse, which ended up being much more a "cat-and-mouse fight" since the mouse repeatedly bit the little kitty until it finally managed to climb onto the mouse's back and bite into its neck from on top, and properly killed the mouse in the end. Though they had to doctor all the bites the poor little dear had suffered!  Poor little kitty!! :( But it certainly proved its worth--already! And, it's not like you could just go to the store to purchase baby chickens or cats. You had to rely upon others' kindness or purchase them from people you could locate who had extras to sell. Fortunately, Mrs. Broast gave them a very generous start for their chicken flock! 

It turns out that one of the storekeepers in town, Clancy, has opened a dry goods store and has purchased a sewing machine which his wife will run, but they want "a good handy girl to help with the hand sewing." The pay is "twenty-five cents a day and dinner." All Laura can think of is the money she might be able to contribute to Mary's college fund. I guess this is one of the things I appreciate the most about this series...they are all interested in how they can help each other, there is very little selfishness at all among the members of this family, or even amongst the community members. Though to be sure there is some, but they seem to get shut down pretty quickly by the other community members. As with the shopkeeper who was going to charge such outrageous amounts for the wheat that Cap and Almanzo had driven through the blizzard some 40 miles to get, all to prevent the local people from starving during that last winter. Pa and the others talked sense to the man and he quickly changed his mind, realizing he would be relying upon these same people to purchase from him in the spring and summer...and they wouldn't forget (or forgive) his unbridled greed in this, their moment of need. Ma gives her permission and Laura begins walking to town every morning with Pa. That was one of the selling points for Ma, knowing that Laura would not be strictly alone once she was in town. 

We learn through Laura's eyes just how much the town has changed and how it has expanded to be almost unrecognizable to her, just since a few months earlier! It is while at work one day that Laura witnesses two drunk men falling out the door of one saloon, singing and swaying along the street, kicking out screens in shop's front doors as they go, until they finally go through one door into the other saloon in town. She was laughing at their song and actions, but Ma was not amused, as she told everyone at home the story that evening. As Pa says,

"Two saloons in this town are just two saloons too many."

"It's a pity more men don't say the same," said Ma. "I begin to believe that if there isn't a stop put to the liquor traffic, women must bestir themselves and have something to say about it."

Pa twinkled at her, "Seems to me you have plenty to say, Caroline. 

Ma never left me in doubt as to the evil of drink, nor you either." (55)

I was reminded of my own experiences with my first marriage. But then, we now know what a disaster Prohibition was, so it is simply dependent upon each of us to control ourselves and moderate our alcohol consumption. 

Pa takes Carrie and Laura into town with him for the July 4th celebrations. And one of the politicians gives them some free fireworks, which they choose to save until they're home so they can share them with Grace. (Awwww...so considerate!) It is during this celebration that I am once again amazed at some of the differences between now and then. The lemonade was stored in open barrels, with a dipper in each one. Each person just used the dipper to drink from, just as they did in the school for water, etc. We wouldn't think of sharing a drinking utensil with everyone and anyone now, would we? You'd better have a strong immune system, 'cause you were certainly going to be exposed to alot of germs and bacteria! :) It is during these patriotic speeches that Laura realizes:

Americans won't obey any king on earth. Americans are free. 

That means they have to obey their own consciences. 

No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. 

Why (she thought), when I am a little older, 

Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn't anyone else 

who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.

Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free.

It means, you have to be good. (76)

I love this realization! Yes, Laura, you will be 'on your own' in the adult world before long. 

Carrie and Laura also watch the horse race and those lovely two Morgan horses, driven by Almanzo, win, even though they are hauling a "high heavy peddler's cart," rather than a one- or two-seater buggy like all the other teams, those being much lighter. With all the other teams hauling just buggies, Laura realizes the Morgans must lose, but she roots for them anyway. I loved the description of the last team of horses in the lead being "whipped" by their owner, as Almanzo draws even with him/them, but Almanzo holds no whip and simply speaks to his team of horses and they pull ahead and win the race in the last seconds! I'm lovin' Almanzo! He was a "horse whisperer" before his time! And Laura is totally enamored with those horses. I'm not sure she's really considered Almanzo so much, but she would do just about anything for a ride behind those beautiful horses. When she learns Almanzo's sister will be the schoolteacher in the fall, she is so hopeful to be liked by her and thereby get just such a ride! 

Mary's brand-new fancy dress for college.

Mary is able to attend college and there are many weeks of advance planning, and work to complete, to have everything ready to send her off to Vinton, Iowa, by train! They must make clothes for her, including underwear, knit socks, etc. I admit I physically squirmed as they described tightening Mary's stays so her dress would fit, as planned. Yuck!! Ma and Pa are gone a whole week for their trip to drop Mary off. While they're gone, Laura, Cassie, and Grace, all work hard to completely clean the house as a surprise for Ma. Though once Grace had hold of the "blacking" for the stove, she created more work for the other two! :) (I was reminded of a similar blacking incident in the Anne of Green Gables series!) When Ma and Pa return, they are very surprised at all the housework done! They were thoughtful enough to being each of the three girls a gift. And they had earned it with all the work they'd done during that week! A picture book for Grace, and autograph albums for Carrie and Laura. I had forgotten about autograph albums! It was a big deal when I was in school for classmates (and upperclassmen, if you were really lucky) to autograph your yearbook, which rather took the place of autograph albums. But I remember them from grade school! 

Ingalls' detailed writing is so descriptive and intriguing. As Laura and Carrie set out on the First Day of School that fall when Miss Wilder would be teaching:

The coolness of night still lingered in the early sunlight. 

Under the high blue sky the green of the prairie was fading to soft brown and mauve. 

A little wind wandered over it carrying the fragrance of ripening grasses and the pungent 

smell of wild sunflowers. All along the road the yellow blossoms were nodding, 

and in its grassy middle they struck the soft thumps against the swinging dinner pail. 

Laura walked in one wheel track, and Carrie in the other. (125)

I was struck at how much healthier and much more enjoyable it would be to walk to work in these conditions rather than drive a car a bunch of miles! Pa had already hauled haystacks into town and stored them next to the barn so that he wouldn't need to haul hay through the winter for heat and to feed the livestock. 

Fearing another October blizzard, Pa moves them into town early in the fall. And this year they have their own provisions to take with them:

"We will have coal to burn and something to eat all winter, 

if the trains can't get through," Pa gloated. (143) 

I could feel Pa's pride as he stated this! How wonderful that they had all worked and been able to provide for themselves this year. :) A job well done! I cracked up as I read about Laura finding book of Tennyson's poems and actually putting it away and leaving it alone. That was really good of her. She was so thoughtful! I can remember locating Christmas gifts as a child and having to keep my own secrets. It was tough! 

Laura rocking the desk, as told!
(She looks fierce, doesn't she?!?)

Miss Wilder and Nellie Oleson prove to be quite good pals and Miss Wilder is very mean to Laura and Carrie. Laura can rather handle the mean actions thrust at her, but she becomes livid when Miss Wilder darn near makes Carrie faint. Carrie had never fully recovered from the previous hard winter and doing without food and being so cold. As Laura talked about Carrie's headaches, I had a pang of empathy for her. What would we do now without all our fancy over-the-counter and/or prescribed medications to prevent or calm headaches? Poor Carrie! Having suffered from sinus headaches as a child, I could relate! Laura and Carrie are dismissed early from school that day, and the School Board completes a surprise visit soon thereafter. It is obvious that Miss Wilder has no idea how to keep order amongst the students as they boys are constantly making noise, up and out of their seats, etc. I had to laugh at the idea of Laura blaming herself for the boys' bad behavior! Trust me, as a former schoolteacher, they would have done it anyway, with or without anyone else's seeming approval; if a teacher is unable to maintain some modicum of control in the classroom, it is his/her own fault! :)

Left to right: Ma, Grace, Laura, Pa, Carrie, and Mary.
No date given...

Needless to say, Miss Wilder's contract was NOT renewed and Mr. Clewett was hired and he was an excellent teacher as well as active community member! (Of course, in that day, it would be much easier to maintain discipline in a schoolhouse if you were a male. Not much of anyone listened a whole lot to females or were necessarily taught to respect them...but, with that said, Miss Wilder was not a good teacher in so many ways!) 

Laura and one of her best friends, Mary Power, were invited to the first "Sociable" in town even though it did cost a dime. It was supposedly for the Ladies' Aid Society, though Ma was unaware one was bring organized. They did not have fun, it was basically an adult affair, they were the only two teens in attendance. Then Laura and Mary are invited to a supper party which was to be a birthday party for one of the boys in school. The dinner served was excellent and the girls had fun when the four teens were allowed to go downstairs by themselves. It was prior to the Sociable that Laura decided she wanted to cut and curl bangs just as Mary had...Ma was rather adamant initially: 

Laura with her
"lunatic fringe"! 

"Oh, Ma, I do wish you'd let me cut bangs," she almost begged. 

"Mary Power wears them, and they are so stylish."

"Your hair looks nice the way it is," said Ma. 

"Mary Power is a nice girl, but I think 

the new hair style is well called a 'lunatic fringe.'" (203)  

Ha! Ha! I did have to laugh at that. The older generation(s) are typically opposed to much change, aren't they? I hope I'm not...

I try not to be. 

I delighted in reading about the establishment of the Literary Society and it's various performances and activities! It was at the first such meeting that Pa suggested there be no "officers" or "organization," per se:

"From what I've seen, the trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they're organized for. 

I take it we're pretty well agreed right now on what we want. 

If we start organizing and electing, the chances are we won't be as well agreed...

So I suggest, let's just go straight ahead and do what we want to do, without any officers. 

We've got the schoolteacher, Mr. Clewett, to act as leader. Let him give out a program, 

every meeting, for the next meeting. Anybody that gets a good idea can speak up for it, 

and anybody that's called on will pitch in and do his share in the programs the best he can, 

to give everybody a good time." (214)

Mrs. Bradley singing
along with her organ!

That Pa is one wise man. And as a result of the Spelling Bee held at the first meeting, we discover he is indeed a very smart man in many ways. And Mr. Fuller rather redeems himself after the herding antelope debacle during the previous winter by proving himself to be a good speller, too. Ma lasted to one of the remaining few, as did Laura. Pa won the whole thing! At another Literary Society meeting on a Friday night, Mrs. Bradley sang a beautiful solo. And another found a group of five of the men performing in "black face." I was reminded that this was acceptable at one point in time, whereas, it certainly would not be now...and that, in my opinion, is a change for the better! I thought it rather funny that none of his own family recognized Pa as one of these performers! He was tricky! And I could relate when Ma was obviously upset at the idea of him possibly  having shaved his beard for it--but he didn't! I could relate to her distress at the thought, for I love my own husband's beard!! I'm always sorry when he trims it down to a mustache and goatee in the summer. :) Though I do understand--it gets hot!

Although it offends our sensibilities now, I guess
I can understand it was not considered offensive
to these settlers at the time...
(Thank goodness we've evolved!)

It was not long after the start of Friday night Literary Society meetings that the week-long revival started. Although Laura would rather stay home and study for both her teaching certificate exam and the school's Exhibition in which she has the largest part, reciting the history of the United States. I had to laugh when the girls at school were discussing the upcoming revival meetings that were every night for a week, and Laura stated "she should stay home and study," and Nellie Oleson burst out,

"Why, people who don't go to revival meetings 

are atheists!" (274)

Ah, yes, you must profess a belief in Christianity...or else! In my opinion, it is unfortunate that U.S. society overall seems to still hold on to this prejudice to a great degree. 

Almanzo sees Laura home!

But the revival meetings are much more exciting for Laura than she might have imagined. Although Almanzo did pick her up one day in the buggy and drive her to school, she had not been with him since that day, but he would tug on her sleeve after revival and ask to "see her home." The first time she couldn't speak; she was unable to say anything! However, the second time and each thereafter she overcame her nervousness. Though I'm not sure she ever truly understood why he might seek her out. Poor Laura had an inferiority complex much as every teenage female tends to have--she wished her body was different and her hair and...well, you know. I suppose males can also be plagued with such self-doubt, it not only a female affliction. Though I believe Almanzo a self-confident person overall.  

Although Carrie is very nervous about the school's Exhibition, she performs flawlessly, as does Laura! In fact, it is through this performance that suddenly Laura is offered a position as schoolteacher although she will not be 16 for two more months! She is shocked when Mr. Broast and his buddy from back east, Mr. Brewster, tell her just not to mention her age. The examiner comes to her house just after she accepts the position and she passes with flying colors, as we would expect! She is so excited that she will be making money and will be able to help Ma and Pa provide for Mary's education and she will be able to come home for the summer! How exciting! 

I am so excited for the next installment! 

I want to know when and exactly how 

she and Almanzo get together 

and how she fares running a classroom! 

I'm certain she will be successful. 

How could she not?

With Pa as her father and Ma as her mother? :)

Join us next month for 

These Happy Golden Years!

I love this older cover image on the left.

I bet I can guess whose horses those are! :)