The Long Winter

[Amethyst]

So, how many of us homeschoolers have referenced The Long Winter today?

[Kidlit]

Didn't reference it, but did think of it ✅🤣

[Hilltopmom]

Nope but our current audio book is LHOTP and I myself read The Children’s Blizzard yesterday.
We actually had a ton of rain before it changed back to snow today here.

[ScoutTN]

Well, long winter week? It’s super cold here, but supposed to be in the 60’s next weekend. 

[GoVanGogh]

I did yesterday, but voted Yes because yesterday was close enough.

[momto3innc]

I think I’m weird in this but that was always my favorite book of the series. I still, on super cold winter days, will try to imagine what that would have been like and what I would have tried to do if I could have prepared for such a winter in that time period. For whatever reason, that one really stuck with me over the years.

Edited December 24, 2022 by momto3innc
Fixing a couple typos

[BakersDozen]

Quite often for us as we just finished up a year of reading through Wilder's books. The Long Winter was the last one we read. One of the projects my dc did was track temps for a month and compare where we live (AZ) with SD. That was super interesting and has led to a lot of tracking/discussion with this current weather! I'll take AZ, thanks. 🙂

[Amethyst]

2 minutes ago, momto3innc said:

I think I’m weird in this but that was always my favorite book of the series. I still, on super cold winter days, will try to imagine what that would have been like and what I would have tried to do if I could have prepared for such a winter in that time period. For whatever reason, that one really stuck with me over the year.

Oh, I think it was the best in the series too! And I hate the winter. I don’t know how she made something so dreary sound so exciting. I think Almanzo added another layer. 

[KungFuPanda]

• I haven't referenced it today, but that is one of the books that lives forever in my mind.  I still have my books from childhood (the blue set) and read them all several times.  I used to read The Long Winter in the summer time to cool off.

[pinball]

1 hour ago, Amethyst said:

So, how many of us homeschoolers have referenced The Long Winter today?

I thought of it, bc when the storm hit, it hit our house with an audible BANG!

[Lady Florida.]

Other. I've never read The Long Winter but I know it's a book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I never read any of the Little House books. I tried as a child and again as an adult and they just didn't interest me at all. 

[Faith-manor]

I am perfectly fine with dissing on those books! Have at it, Kelly! 😁 I have such issues with them, and hope my daughter does not read them to our grandsons. There are better options for literature about that era and settlers difficulties.

The Ingalls parents were not good parents, even for the time period and accepted culture. I suspect Ma of narcissism, and Mary was the golden child with Pa enabling Ma which is typical in marriages where one person is very narcissistic. Laura was nothing more than a wage earner to Ma. Pa did seem to have some emotional bond with Laura, and it should be noted that though Laura had money to travel, and was in a position to do so, and made the effort to see Pa before he died, but she never went back to see Ma or Mary ever again though they lived many years. Letters and diary entries indicate that her mother and sister did not appreciate her at all, and showed no care whatsoever for Rose, the only grandchild and niece. 

As for the Long Winter, they were rationing food despite there being supplies in town, money available, a milk cow and a heifer that could have been butchered. I think Rose probably made Laura fictionalize the whole thing and made it sound a LOT more dramatic than it was. School was never canceled. The superintendent for the district visited more than once that winter and noted that daily attendance was good. Though the town did run out of coal, they weren't actually that low in lumber because it had been stockpiled for a large building push expected in the spring, and that was used when the coal ran out. Pa made Laura work with him like an insane bear to produce hay sticks to burn because Ma refused to use "Mary's college money" for the higher priced wood even though it would have kept them a lot warmer. Other main supplies that ran low and noted in the historical record was tobacco, sugar, and of course eventually flour, but no mention of running out of cornmeal or canned goods which were typically on store shelves at that time because so many settlers were bachelors that didn't cook. As for the flour, Almanzo and Cap didn't need to go after the wheat. Newspaper and other records of the town indicate that the settler sold wheat to the town and Charles Lamson (Alamanzo's cousin) ground it into flour and sold it. But no where was mentioned anyone risking life and limb to go get it. She clearly believed it happened, some sort of family lore or Almanzo making himself out to be a town hero to her while courting in order to make her feel a little indebted to him.

http://www.pioneergirl.com/blog/archives/5096

The family suffered because Ma would not allow the use of golden girl Mary's money to be used for the needs off the rest of the family which had catastrophic costs for Laura, Carrie, and Grace's future health especially Carrie who had issues even before the other two and was weak and prone to fainting spells because of the malnutrition. Mary never suffered any of this, and though all 3 sisters died of type 2 complications linked to malnutrition in their formative years, and all 3 younger girls were WAY shorter than their parents which is not normal, Mary was 5'8" which means her growth was never inhibited. For a family who had frequent food insecurity, how on earth did that happen? I supsect by depriving the other children of a fair portion of what food there was and giving it to golden the girl. Since I have known families who did similarly, my own brother has five children, one golden child, and he literally deprived his other children of needed things like winter coats and boots in order to pay for ski vacations and other crap for his golden daughter, I do not have a hard time believing it happened.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Faith-manor

[Ausmumof3]

Nope… but we’re expecting 40 (104) in a couple of days! Although we did have a long winter this year, but it didn’t involve snow or cold just so much rain and grass! My hay fever kid can’t wait for the grass to finally stop growing and die off for a while.

[gardenmom5]

I was trying to figure out what caused such an exceptionally harsh winter - Krakatoa didn't erupt until 1883, which led to a very hard decade for blizzards.

Tambora was a much bigger eruption - but that area didn't have much in the way of written records for the early 19th century.  (1815 was the "year without a summer" because of that eruption.  Snow in July in New England.)

[gardenmom5]

4 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I am perfectly fine with dissing on those books! Have at it, Kelly! 😁 I have such issues with them, and hope my daughter does not read them to our grandsons. There are better options for literature about that era and settlers difficulties.

The Ingalls parents were not good parents, even for the time period and accepted culture. I suspect Ma of narcissism, and Mary was the golden child with Pa enabling Ma which is typical in marriages where one person is very narcissistic. Laura was nothing more than a wage earner to Ma. Pa did seem to have some emotional bond with Laura, and it should be noted that though Laura had money to travel, and was in a position to do so, and made the effort to see Pa before he died, but she never went back to see Ma or Mary ever again though they lived many years. Letters and diary entries indicate that her mother and sister did not appreciate her at all, and showed no care whatsoever for Rose, the only grandchild and niece. 

As for the Long Winter, they were rationing food despite there being supplies in town, money available, a milk cow and a heifer that could have been butchered. I think Rose probably made Laura fictionalize the whole thing and made it sound a LOT more dramatic than it was. School was never canceled. The superintendent for the district visited more than once that winter and noted that daily attendance was good. Though the town did run out of coal, they weren't actually that low in lumber because it had been stockpiled for a large building push expected in the spring, and that was used when the coal ran out. Pa made Laura work with him like an insane bear to produce hay sticks to burn because Ma refused to use "Mary's college money" for the higher priced wood even though it would have kept them a lot warmer. Other main supplies that ran low and noted in the historical record was tobacco, sugar, and of course eventually flour, but no mention of running out of cornmeal or canned goods which were typically on store shelves at that time because so many settlers were bachelors that didn't cook. As for the flour, Almanzo and Cap didn't need to go after the wheat. Newspaper and other records of the town indicate that the settler sold wheat to the town and Charles Lamson (Alamanzo's cousin) ground it into flour and sold it. But no where was mentioned anyone risking life and limb to go get it. She clearly believed it happened, some sort of family lore or Almanzo making himself out to be a town hero to her while courting in order to make her feel a little indebted to him.

http://www.pioneergirl.com/blog/archives/5096

The family suffered because Ma would not allow the use of golden girl Mary's money to be used for the needs off the rest of the family which had catastrophic costs for Laura, Carrie, and Grace's future health especially Carrie who had issues even before the other two and was weak and prone to fainting spells because of the malnutrition. Mary never suffered any of this, and though all 3 sisters died of type 2 complications linked to malnutrition in their formative years, and all 3 younger girls were WAY shorter than their parents which is not normal, Mary was 5'8" which means her growth was never inhibited. For a family who had frequent food insecurity, how on earth did that happen? I supsect by depriving the other children of a fair portion of what food there was and giving it to golden the girl. Since I have known families who did similarly, my own brother has five children, one golden child, and he literally deprived his other children of needed things like winter coats and boots in order to pay for ski vacations and other crap for his golden daughter, I do not have a hard time believing it happened.

Years ago (many many years) I had read a column about how an entire chapter was devoted to Laura chasing a butterfly, and only one short sentence about Mary going blind.

Kinda gives a whole different perspective.  

does make you wonder what would have happened to Mary if the son lived. I could easily see her being displaced in favor of a boy.

[ktgrok]

On 12/23/2022 at 9:16 PM, Kidlit said:

Didn't reference it, but did think of it ✅🤣

Same.