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Sunday, November 18, 2012

West from Home

Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder

San Francisco 1915

Edited by Roger Lea MacBride

Photo of Laura, Michelle, Chelsea and Haley at Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in Mansfield.
About fifteen years ago I had the opportunity to go to Mansfield, Missouri to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum.  Die-hard fans of the Little House on the Prairie books will understand why I got chills looking at Pa’s actual fiddle!  For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved those books.  As a child in the seventies, I was also a fan of the television show.  While the show’s storyline veered far from the books, the spunk of little Laura Ingalls still showed through.  She was bright, strong, and a just a little bit of a trouble maker.  Perhaps my admiration for that little girl is why I named my oldest child Laura.  

West from Home is a book of letters that the grown-up Laura wrote to her husband Almanzo while she was on an extended trip to San Francisco to visit their daughter Rose.  In these letters, Laura details so well everything she saw.  Growing up, she had to be the eyes for her sister Mary who went blind at a young age.  This obviously refined her skill for descriptive language.

At Land’s End I had my first view of the Pacific Ocean.  To say it is beautiful does not half express it.  It is simply beyond words.  The water is such a deep wonderful blue and the sound of the waves breaking on the beach and their whisper as they flow back is something to dream about.

Her letters describe more wonders, such as the first fireworks she’s seen, and the ships from many lands nestled in the harbor.  

What impresses me about her letters is the wonder she feels about what she experiences.  Now that we have HDTV and the internet that can show us video from anywhere in the world, and movies with mind-boggling special effects, it seems we have lost some of our astonishment at what is before our eyes.  Let’s not let that happen.  Let’s not lose our wonder for the simple but amazing things in our lives. 
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2 comments:

  1. The Relentless ReaderNovember 20, 2012 at 9:35 AM

    I would love to read this book. I adored the series when I was a girl and I really enjoyed reading them again with my own daughter :)

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  2. Kendra MitchellNovember 25, 2012 at 4:22 PM

    I loved this book, as well. I also cherished the opportunity to visit the Museum in Mansfield. I was awed to walk through the house and see so many of the family's possessions. I hope I can get back there some day. I am also so excited to have another little girl to read the books to. The Little House books are some of the few we have unpacked in our temporary place.

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