On a fine spring-like morning, the world seems much less wintery in my corner today. The sun washes warmly over my face. The sky spans in a smooth blue ocean overhead. The birds are singing and fluttering with delight as they sense the awakening of spring. Alas, a few more wintery mornings are sure to awaken me with a frosty chill. For many reasons, I do love a dose of frigid, sparkling, white winter days. Truly, they are beautiful in their own right. The dry air brings pristine azure skies by day and mesmerizing starlight canvases by night. I love to romp and tumble in drifts to my waist, toss snowballs in a giggly chase of childhood, soar down the bank on the red runners of my old wooden sled, and tumble in to warm by a blazing fire with my hands wrapped tightly about a mug of aromatic cider. Cold winters are rich with warm memories. Without the barren landscape of winter, the fresh, awakening green of spring would lose its glory.
There are winters, however, that grow long with hardship... treacherously so... when spring is beckoned with more desperation than delight. Welcome to Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Long Winter". Whether spring is beginning to bud before you, or winter's white blanket still wraps around, grab a quilt and a cup of ginger tea and join us at Beyond Little House for chapter nine of our winter read-along. Today, I'm honored to recap the introduction of the beloved Cap Garland... and the onset of snow. You can quickly catch up on previous chapters here from some of our most esteemed and well-read Laura Ingalls Wilder authors and historians. If you, too, love the life and works of Laura join the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association in support of continued research and preservation of the legacies of Laura, her daughter Rose, and their home sites.
It's a long, l-o-n-g winter on the prairie. Looking forward to hearing from you there... after I read about Cap... again!
Susan
