Are we really too busy to shop for groceries??

[steve-in-kville]

I thought it was Mrs. Olsen that was the trouble maker?

[Aurien]

I thought it was Mrs. Olsen that was the trouble maker?

She's one of the troublemakers in the TV show. I don't think much is said about her in the books. I haven't watched all the TV episodes but I think the scene mike is referring to comes from one of the books.

[Aurien]

Something about this all reminds me of how years ago, a person would go to the store and tell the storekeeper what they wanted. The storekeeper would go in back, get it off the shelf, and bring it front to the counter. Does life go in cycles or what?

Little House on the Prairie comes to mind.

The "store" scene that first comes to mind is the one where Pa goes back to the storekeepers living quarters and helps himself...

Is that a scene from the TV show or from the books?

[steve-in-kville]

Call me a girly-man, but as a pre-teen, I read those book several times over. I think I had the entire TV show on DVD, but many are in rough shape. That's a lifestyle we'll never see again, although I wish we could sometimes.

[barnhart]

Little House on the Prairie comes to mind.

The "store" scene that first comes to mind is the one where Pa goes back to the storekeepers living quarters and helps himself...

Is that a scene from the TV show or from the books?

That's in the book. Pa is no fool, he knew the owner (Almanzo) was sweet on his daughter. He had leverage. He also had no other options.

[Szdfan]

That's a lifestyle we'll never see again, although I wish we could sometimes.

Because of my interest in the Dust Bowl, I’ve done some reading about homesteading. It sounds like a brutal and difficult lifestyle. I think we have a tendency to romanticize it. Most homesteads failed and many that were able to hang on were swept away in the Depression.

That being said, because of the pandemic and what we anticipate as the economic consequences, my wife and I are discussing what we might do to depend less on the grocery store.

[Josh]

That's a lifestyle we'll never see again, although I wish we could sometimes.

Because of my interest in the Dust Bowl, I’ve done some reading about homesteading. It sounds like a brutal and difficult lifestyle. I think we have a tendency to romanticize it. Most homesteads failed and many that were able to hang on were swept away in the Depression.

That being said, because of the pandemic and what we anticipate as the economic consequences, my wife and I are discussing what we might do to depend less on the grocery store.

My grandparents on both sides lived this way, and it was not a particularly pleasant existence. When my grandparents on my dad’s side retired, they ate out every single day. I guess they wanted to make up for lost time. They loved being “American” (even though they really weren’t), loved peacetime, and loved middle-brow culture like watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

On the flip side, now I understand why my grandma on my mother’s side hoarded egg cartons - the person we buy eggs from says she’s running out and if we want more eggs we have to bring egg cartons back to her.

If these conditions are prolonged, Zoomers and younger Millennials are going to end up just like Greatests and Silents.

[Szdfan]

That's a lifestyle we'll never see again, although I wish we could sometimes.

Because of my interest in the Dust Bowl, I’ve done some reading about homesteading. It sounds like a brutal and difficult lifestyle. I think we have a tendency to romanticize it. Most homesteads failed and many that were able to hang on were swept away in the Depression.

That being said, because of the pandemic and what we anticipate as the economic consequences, my wife and I are discussing what we might do to depend less on the grocery store.

My grandparents on both sides lived this way, and it was not a particularly pleasant existence. When my grandparents on my dad’s side retired, they ate out every single day. I guess they wanted to make up for lost time. They loved being “American” (even though they really weren’t), loved peacetime, and loved middle-brow culture like watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

On the flip side, now I understand why my grandma on my mother’s side hoarded egg cartons - the person we buy eggs from says she’s running out and if we want more eggs we have to bring egg cartons back to her.

If these conditions are prolonged, Zoomers and younger Millennials are going to end up just like Greatests and Silents.

My wife, whose family homesteaded in Baca County, Colorado during the agriculture boom around WWI, really resents when modern homesteaders call it “homesteading,” because they do it with a lot more comfort than her family did.

But I also think the pandemic provides opportunity for many of us to reevaluate our lives and what really matters.

[Aurien]

The "store" scene that first comes to mind is the one where Pa goes back to the storekeepers living quarters and helps himself...

Is that a scene from the TV show or from the books?

That's in the book. Pa is no fool, he knew the owner (Almanzo) was sweet on his daughter. He had leverage. He also had no other options.

I was racking my brain because I didn't remember that Almanzo was ever a store owner. I don't own any of the Little House books so I couldn't look it up. So I called my mom and she rattled the whole thing off from memory. Almanzo's brother Royal was the one who owned the feed store. Royal ran out of feed and Almanzo didn't want anyone asking about the seed wheat he was saving to plant in the spring. So Almanzo built a hidden room for his seed wheat. Pa was pretty sharp eyed though and noticed that the inside dimensions of the building didn't quite match the outside. He saw the knothole in the wall, opened up the plug and helped himself to some of the wheat. Almanzo let him take the wheat because he saw how hungry Pa looked. Mom doesn't know if Almanzo being sweet on Laura had anything to do with it or not. She said there wasn't much mentioned in the books yet about Almanzo and Laura.
In case you couldn't tell my mom is rather fond of the Little House books. I guess that's why my sister and I were named after a couple of the book characters.

[Aurien]

Call me a girly-man, but as a pre-teen, I read those book several times over. I think I had the entire TV show on DVD, but many are in rough shape. That's a lifestyle we'll never see again, although I wish we could sometimes.

I don't think there's anything really girly about reading the books. Yeah they were written by a woman but there's not a whole lot of overly girly stuff in them. Maybe that's because Laura Ingalls was more of a tomboy herself.