The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder have entertained kids for almost seventy five years, while teaching them a little about what life was like for pioneers during the late 1800s. While the books were published as fiction, most of the story was taken from Wilder’s own childhood. One of the biggest turning points in the books is when Laura’s older sister Mary goes blind after getting scarlet fever. But an article recently published in the American Academy of Pediatrics argues that scarlet fever did not cause Mary’s blindness at all.
The month of January frees most farmers from field work, and if the snow is deep enough, even my husband, John and I stop pruning our blueberry bushes. Some farmers plow snow for extra cash, but traditionally, others head to their woods for a winter paycheck.
