Of late, the trending topics on Twitter have been the stuff of political nightmares with frequent shifts from mindblowing to infuriating and back again. And while the obvious solution lies before us all, walking away doesn’t quite feel like the right solution, no matter how much stress it would relieve in the moment.
So, for now, we live for those brief moments of non-political chatter and savor them. Today, that reprieve was the glorious, timeless, and timely Laura Ingalls Wilder, who would have been 150 today (and a medical marvel). And what a wonderful reprieve it was.
Since the publishing of “Little House in the Big Woods” (the first of the Little House series) in 1932, it (along with the rest of the series) has brought the world of the American frontier alive for countless young (and young at heart) minds the world over.
These stories of childhood, family, and adventure are both a history lesson and a reminder of those things that never change (albeit with a conspicuous lack of grizzly bears attacking schools).
The mere fact that for a brief moment, this 150-year-old author was able to overcome all of the other social noise and capture our collective attention is a true testament to the power of the written word and should inspire us all to fight for it and all that it touches. In today’s world, the gift of reading is no longer a gift, but a right, and one that we should all continue to fight for, for all people.
The beauty of these books, and all books really, is their ability to focus and transport us all at the same time. All at once, we are both present and soaring to places far beyond our current circumstances.
“They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.”
Little House in the Big Woods
…bi-daily smile…
