Dig into the Past for Presents
My last trip to the Niantic Book Barn yielded a sweet and unexpected gift. My mom shopped on her own while Gavin played fort on the playground and I leafed through my new finds. My reading cup was already overflowing when Mom pulled a surprise out of her bag: A Laura Ingalls Wilder book I had never seen before! It was befitting that Mom was the giver, as she had given me, one by one, the whole “Little House” series during my childhood.
In 1991, Stephen W. Hines edited a rediscovered collection of Wilder’s writings gleaned from farm papers and national magazine clippings: Little House in the Ozarks. These pieces, even though they were written earlier in her life, describe the life that came after the events depicted in Little House on the Prairie.
It has been a hard month—I think the nation is collectively feeling the grim state of the economy, the uncertainty of the upcoming election. So it gave me enormous comfort to read of another place and time. Soon into it, however, the words reminded me more and more of the present.
1917: Wilder writes about wildflowers and the pure memories of her girlhood. Her conclusion: “I believe we would be happier to have a personal revolution in our individual lives and go back to simpler living and more direct thinking. It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature.”
1920: Wilder writes: “People used to have time to live and enjoy themselves, but there is no time anymore for anything but work, work, work.” By the end of the piece, she has reframed her perspective, recalling how much harder things were for her parents, and how far reaching a positive attitude can be, lightening the load of so much that has to be done.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, were she still alive, would be welcome as a guest writer on my blog any time, although I know she might very well steal the show. Her words showed me that human nature has an evergreen quality, that we are joined to other centuries by the similar longings and plans of those who came before us. The editor must have had the same experience, for he titled the section that housed these articles Nothing New Under the Sun.
Those that think deeply may complain, but ultimately they want to go even deeper. They were seekers in the last century; they will be seekers in the next. And their journey is ever one of persistence and hope. My slow, bumpy progress toward a simpler, more meaning-infused existence is not by any stretch the first such journey. It’s nice to know I have many centuries worth of company sharing the road.
In 1991, Stephen W. Hines edited a rediscovered collection of Wilder’s writings gleaned from farm papers and national magazine clippings: Little House in the Ozarks. These pieces, even though they were written earlier in her life, describe the life that came after the events depicted in Little House on the Prairie.
It has been a hard month—I think the nation is collectively feeling the grim state of the economy, the uncertainty of the upcoming election. So it gave me enormous comfort to read of another place and time. Soon into it, however, the words reminded me more and more of the present.
1917: Wilder writes about wildflowers and the pure memories of her girlhood. Her conclusion: “I believe we would be happier to have a personal revolution in our individual lives and go back to simpler living and more direct thinking. It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature.”
1920: Wilder writes: “People used to have time to live and enjoy themselves, but there is no time anymore for anything but work, work, work.” By the end of the piece, she has reframed her perspective, recalling how much harder things were for her parents, and how far reaching a positive attitude can be, lightening the load of so much that has to be done.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, were she still alive, would be welcome as a guest writer on my blog any time, although I know she might very well steal the show. Her words showed me that human nature has an evergreen quality, that we are joined to other centuries by the similar longings and plans of those who came before us. The editor must have had the same experience, for he titled the section that housed these articles Nothing New Under the Sun.
Those that think deeply may complain, but ultimately they want to go even deeper. They were seekers in the last century; they will be seekers in the next. And their journey is ever one of persistence and hope. My slow, bumpy progress toward a simpler, more meaning-infused existence is not by any stretch the first such journey. It’s nice to know I have many centuries worth of company sharing the road.
Labels: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Niantic Book Barn, simplicity
posted by Katherine H @ 12:23 PM
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