PrairieSmoke

The best part is when Charles and Joe go to confront Standish in the bar, bringing the horses with them. After thouroughly embarrisng Standish, Charles drops the horses's reins and says, "Buy my two friends a drink."

Watched season 7. I wondered how they would treat the death of Will Geer. Would Grandpa just "disappear" now? "The Empty Nest" was the most beautiful, moving, loving tribute you could possibly pay to a recently deceased actor. That last scene on Walton's mountain, who would have to act? I bet when the camera turned off, there wasn't a dry eye on the set. The whole season, you just felt Grandpa's presence. The season ending, Founder's Day, was one of the few times The Walton's made me cry. And Ellen Corby, holy cow! What bravery, coming back to work after a stroke, with Will's death still being felt no doubt. She could have just retired to an old folk's home, but no, she came back and worked. Whenever I think of today's whining, sniveling, entitled celebrities worried about botox and boob jobs, I have two words for them. Ellen Corby.

You know, since the Little House books are made up, I wonder how much of Farmer Boy is fiction. I wonder if Laura used all that food metaphorically, to show the differences in her and Almonzo's upbringing. I can imagine Laura and Almanzo reading the Farmer Boy manuscript and giggling their heads off!

Yes, if only Laura knew what she created. Pretty amazing. Happy Birthday Laura Ingalls Wilder, you don't look a day over 148 ;)

If you don't want to be spoiled...don't read any further. Burr Oak, IA The Burr Oak years, no wonder they didn't make it into any of the Little House books. The place just sounded like a dump. Sounds like Laura didn't have too many good memories of it either. About the leaving in the middle of the night incident. I'm forgetting some of the details, but it sounds like the hotel owner was skimming some of Charles's wages to begin with. Then when the Ingalls decided to leave, the owner said, "Well, you owe this much and if you don't pay, I'll call the law." To make them leave in the middle of the night, it sounds like the owner would have kept saying, now you owe this much, now you owe that much. Making it so the debt was never possible to pay off. So, they just packed up and fled. Walnut Grove, MN The grasshopper attacks sound horrible no matter which way Laura tells it. In OTBOPC, the details are incredible. Laura was really an excellent author of fiction, so descriptive. Farmers all over the southeast (?) part of the state wrote to the govenor of Minnesota and said real starvation would take place if they didn't help the people. I can't blame the Ingalls for leaving at all. After two years of grasshoppers, the eggs were laid for a third year. I would have started packing the house that day. That was when Charles Ingalls went to some official office and declared himself "totally without means" and got a barrel of flour, I believe. De Smet, SD In the BTSOSL section of South Dakota, Laura tries to explain Aunt Docia and Uncle Hi and how they "took" three wagon loads of supplies. I can't figure out what she means by the explanation. In the footnotes it kind of implies, "everybody cheats the railroads." I'm almost thinking in the days before labor and wage laws, well, sometimes you got an honest day's pay, sometimes you didn't. You just worked for someone coming through and hoped that you finished the day in one piece. Maybe wage skimming, supply skimming took place on both sides??? Just hypothesizing. The Hard Winter, De Smet, SD Laura calls it the Hard Winter. So, the young family that stayed with the Ingalls didn't want to help with anything? If I were Charles, I would have said, "Come outside here and think about what contribution you will make to this household. When you make a decision, you can come back in." Laura tells of Almonzo and Cap making the trip for the wheat "at great peril to their lives." Laura writes so matter of factly. Not emotional, not flowery, just the facts. I believe I read Charles did in fact get an antelope, and they shared it. Indian Territory, KS At the end, soldiers come to remove the Ingalls from their homestead. Again, can't remember the details, but many settlers had to leave. In fact, a few families traveled with the Ingalls for a few days before turning into another direction. ******* All in all, Laura used Pioneer Girl as a basis for the fictional Ingalls family she created for the Little House book series. In the books, the Ingalls are part of the mythology of the American pioneers, "The Ingalls vs The Frontier." Rugged, independent, no one to depend on but themselves. In reality, they really are dependent on others to an extent. Everyone needed someone back then. If you plopped yourself down in the middle of the prairie, you found your nearest neighbors. The Smiths live to the southwest, the Andersens live to the east about an hours ride, ect... Maybe Laura unintentionally made Charles look bad by him making boisterous promises, ("We'll live like kings Caroline!"), then the harsh realities of their new land sets in. I think in real life Charles did have an itchy foot, wanted to go to where there was the promise of the good life. I think he did the best he could under the cirsumstances they found themselves in. I mean, before we destroyed the native animals natural habitat, there were just lots of animals around. Plant some potatoes, corn, the animals see a new food supply, and they come eat it all. Then you start all over again, or go to Plan B. The crow pie, Laura says in PG, they were tasty, so I don't feel so bad for her eating crow pie. Laura was a very tough, sturdy woman. She was the only one who could handle working and keeping things together when Charles couldn't find work. Mary was blind, Carrie was not in the best of health, Grace was young, so Laura was the strongest of the siblings. Back then, the family was an economic unit, and it took everyone able to work to make a living. The Ingalls did succeed though. They say two-thirds of the settlers to the Dakotas and westward didn't last the five years. The Ingalls did. Well, this is all I can think of. Whoever read this far, congratulations!

I read the LHIBW section that Pioneer Girl covers, and I think the story about the brown vs blond hair being prettier never happened. It says Laura made up stories in her fictional (LH books) family, and the she told stories that accentuated the differences between Laura and Mary. Point being, Laura and Mary had very different personalities.

Remember The Thoroughbred, where John-Boy raced Blue in a competition? He comes home one day and doesn't think the rest of the siblings are doing a good job with Blue, and starts almost screaming at them. Jason and Ben should have pounced on him right then and beat the living crap out of him. That was about the worst of John-Boy's behavior.

Oh, and the alternate John-Boy, talk about Mr. Mellow after all that hardship. If that was Richard Thomas's John-Boy it would have taken weeks to repair the bar, a guy would have been drinking his meals through a straw for a month, and the mean landlady would have had a 12 gauge and a restraining order!

Couldn't help it and took a peek at the last Waltons episode. So, the kids are all running the house now? They can run that place by themselves? I'm sure they all have jobs and are combining income. I would have liked to see more of their dreams come true, like Jim Bob, he's always the one you kind of discount as being, not the sharpest knife in the draw. He loved flying so much, he should have strutted in the Baldwin's parlor wearing dress whites and gold wings. "Announcing, LTJG James Robert Walton, United States Navy, carrier qualified fighter pilot! Jason, would have liked to see him here just visiting because he is a big band leader, playing Carnegie Hall and touring the country, and giving Glenn Miller a run for his money. Ben, Elizabeth, Erin, whoo-hoo, quite the lookers! Ben was always a good looking kid though. Disappointing it ended without John and Olivia. I would have made Ralph and Michael an offer they couldn't refuse and had them on the porch swing at the end, looking over their now empty nest. It did end good, the Baldwin sisters speech at the end! Some of the best dialogue in the show, wow! I don't know if I'll watch Seasons 7, 8 and 9. Couldn't watch it without Will Geer, he lit that show up. Missed Ellen Corby too.

Ok, this is going to sound a little corny, but remember how the tv show ended with the town being blown up? Well, the last scene was of the little house with a bunch of rabbits in the yard. I believe the rabbits signify that LIW and Little House on the Prairie is a timeless classic that will never be forgotten. First, it's the books, then the tv show, then the museums, historical sites, get togethers, movie remakes, and now Pioneer Girl is becoming a runaway smash hit.

I'm on seasons 4 and 5, and The Waltons are finding some traction. Show got better in season 3 on. Ok, I have to ask, what is it with the Waltons and animals???? They're mountain people, farm- born and raised, and they act like idiots around animals. There was some episode where Erin finds a fawn and wants to keep it for a pet. Then Jim Bob wants to keep a peacock in the barn (at first. finally saw the light and let it roost in the treehouse.) Any rural person would understand that wild animals belong in the wild. Chance has a calf and the flash mob is swarming all over it. I know it's their gentle milk cow, but any animal is very protective over their young. Especially at birth. "This is MY baby, and you better get back!" Then the episode The Loss, about Olivia (another one) loses her husband and comes to stay with the family for awhile. Calico the cat is giving birth and it's clear she's probably not going to survive. :( They get the kittens out of the birth canal, ok fine, then Calico dies. :( Whole family stands around saying "What do we do now?" Hello, farm born and raised, and you don't know what to do for a newborn animal that is in distress??? Grieving Olivia comes to the rescue, says the kittens will need round the clock care. John then says, "Well, let's all go to bed." JOHN, what part of "round the clock care" do you NOT UNDERSTAND??? Sure, leave your guest to take care of your kittens while you go to bed. At the end, Olivia leaves with Calico the Second. Wonder what happened to the other two kittens? Hmmmmm....... Oh, and Jim Bob also killed his guinie pig by not keeping it in a safe, secure area at night. It's a wonder Chance the cow didn't go crazy and gore them all to death.

Disappointing news on the delivery dates. Sorry for you guys. :( For those that have the book, are we ready to discuss in earnest? I have some questions I'd like to ask, I couldn't find the answer in the book.

Well, my view of Pa is changing. I see him at not the wanna be fearless pioneer who made mistake after mistake, but as just a guy who did his best under the circumstances they faced. He had that chronic itchy foot, but he was willing to do anything it took to try out a place. I was going to ask that question.

Ok, who is the moderator? Do we have the go-ahead to discuss Pioneer Girl?

Excellent point. Yeah, too much of an ewwwww factor for Ma to have 19th century hairy legs. Anybody notice in that episode, after Charles found Ma and Doc Baker was tending to her and Reverand Alden was holding Carrie in the rocking chair, looking absolutely shell shocked at what happened. Charles gives him a look like he's really pissed at him! The only person who knew Caroline was hurt was Doc Baker, and he was at that other farm with a broken wheel on his buggy. They probably didn't cross paths, so Rev Alden had no idea Caroline was injured.