Little House on the Prairie

A few years ago; well, maybe only one since I don’t have the kind of brain that remembers that sort of thing, I learned how wonderful audio books (free from the library nonetheless) are for long car trips. Back in June the very weekend school ended we headed on a 3-hour ride to Green Bay with the first Little House audio book in our CD player. The reader is phenomenal at expressing the words that Laura Ingalls wilder so descriptively put on paper. There is also a fiddler player to bring Pa’s music to our ears.

We were so hooked on the book that we spent the next three months listening to the other eight books in the series. We listened while we drove to swim lessons, baseball/t-ball, tennis, soccer, the pool, a few more longer rides and sometimes even as we sat in our driveway after coming home from a drive, our ears glued to the speakers. It amazed me how much time we spent in the van just driving around town. It was also a relief to not have to find something on the radio to listen to.

Tonight we celebrated finishing the last book about a week ago and checked out the 90-minute Pilot episode/movie of the television show Little House on the Prairie. I’d almost forgotten how adorable Melissa Gilbert was, I blame Dancing With the Stars for that.

Next weekend we will conclude our Little House summer by driving an hour and a half north to the town where Laura Ingalls Wilder was born; Pepin, WI and the site of her first book Little House in the Big Woods. The first weekend after Labor Day every year the town holds “Laura Days”. The festival lasts Saturday and Sunday, but we will only be able to go on Sunday. Maybe another year I will run in the 10K race on Saturday morning and earn a shirt with my daughter’s name on it, but if we are to go any year this is the year.

If we were to finish these books with enough time to drive to De Smet, SD; about 7 hours away, before school starts on Tuesday I think I’d be at the library looking for audio books to listen to on the drive west. We’ll leave that for another summer; hoping my kids will still be as captivated by her life as I am.

www.lauradays.org

An Olympic Moment

 

Last night I watched Kirani James from Grenada qualify in first place in his heat for the men’s 400 meter sprint = ¼ mile. I also watched Oscar Pistorius from South Africa finish last in that same heat.  My eyes were on both of them. I’ve been following Oscar’s story for a few weeks (month or so?) since the media introduced him to me while the IOC decided if his prosthetic legs gave him a running advantage. Oscar is a double amputee whose goal was to compete in the semi-finals against able-bodied athletes. His entire life was spent competing against able-bodied athletes in a variety of sports. Last night I watched him accomplish his goal. 

After the qualifying race, Kirani walked up to Oscar, unpin his race bib with his name and trade it for Oscar’s. I have never before seen this act that I can only interpret as getting an autograph with no pen. This, to me, showed his utmost respect and admiration for Oscar. And today Oscar has the bib of the 2012 Olympic Gold medalist in the 400 meter sprint. Kirani has Grenada’s first Olympic medal, Gold nonetheless.

After Kirani won Gold, Bob Costas (aka the voice of the Olympics) shared this story about the Gold medalist. A Grenada “tour guide” for the NBC crew nervously asked Kirani for his autograph for her daughter, Sydney, and this is what he wrote, “ Sydney, Your mom is extremely proud of you…Kirani James”. I think it’s safe to say that Kirani James’ mother is extremely proud of her 19-year old son who is a shining example of sportsmanship.

Oh, and Kirani James trains in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he ran for The University of Alabama for two years before going professional.

ROLL TIDE!