An Homage to Laura Ingalls Wilder

My mother read the Little House books to me at bedtime. I can remember tapping on her shoulder to wake her up when she had drifted off to sleep. I loved those books, and when I began reading Little House in the Big Woods to my son David, then probably five years old, I didn’t make it past the first sentence before I started to cry: Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin in a little gray house made of logs. (Sorry, David! I’ll try to hold it together better for my grandchild!)

If I had had a daughter, I would have named her Laura, and if I ever have a male dog, he’ll be named Jack. (Our dog Beau belongs to David, which makes him our granddog. Why David didn’t name the dog Jack is a mystery to me.) And so when it came to naming my blog, there was no question what it would be. I was simply astonished (and delighted) when I found that no one had already registered the domain name.

I have a niece named Robin who kindly indulges me in calling her Laura. She calls me her “second mother.” And one of the lambs on the farm is named Jack. I’ll settle for that… for now 🙂