I recently had the honor of becoming reacquainted with someone from my childhood. I remembered having admired this person for the interesting life she led, and as I introduced my daughter, Livia, to her, I came to know here in a new light.

My "friend" wasn't physically present when Livia met her, for you see, she died in 1957 at the age of ninety. So how was I able to pull off this feat, since this person passed on ten years before I was born? Through the many books she wrote and left behind, of course. Her name was Laura Ingalls Wilders. 

As a child, I devoured Laura's "Little House On The Prairie" books, one after the other, until I had read them in record time. From my young point of view, Laura was just like any other kid, mischievous, fun-loving and in awe of her surroundings. She was just as amazed at her Pa's new plow as I was about my dad's "new" eight-track tape deck. (I guess the 1970's were a bit different than the 1870's!)

In any case, Laura provided for me a way to jump back in time and experience all that she did, just as she is currently doing for my daughter, who at five and one-half, is reading far beyond her age level. My husband, myself and Livia have been taking turns reading aloud from Laura's books after dinner. We are currently on the fourth book in the "Little House" series, "By The Shores Of Silver Lake," and I must say, that this family reading time has proven to be of educational value to us all. 

In this particular book of Laura's, a portion is devoted to the "new" invention of the railroad. As a child, I remembered thinking: Oh cool, Laura is 13 and going for her first train ride in 1880. Rereading this as an adult, I now think: Oh cool, Laura is 13 and going for her first train ride in 1880. . .and just imagine what she saw. . .

"The whole car swayed now, in time to the clackity-clacking underneath it, and the black smoke blew by in melting rolls. A telegraph wire swooped up and down beyond the window. It did not really swoop, but it seemed to swoop because it sagged between the poles. It was fastened to green glass knobs that glittered in the sunshine and went dark when the smoke rolled above them. Beyond the wire, grasslands and fields and scattered farmhouses and barns went by so fast that Laura could not really look at them before they were gone." (from: By The Shores Of Silver Lake, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, p. 21, Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1939)

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? ! I stopped after reading this passage, an excerpt from Laura's visual description of the train ride to her sister, Mary, then 15 and recently left blind from Scarlet Fever, and said to my daughter.

"Liv, do you know what those knobs of green glass were?"
"What?" she asked excitedly, seeing the glow on my face.
"They're insulators!" I gushed like a giggling schoolgirl.
"Really?" Livia exclaimed as she gazed at the many insulators that adorn the windowsills of our home. 
"Yeah," I said, even shocked myself at this revelation, "and did you know that Laura actually saw some of the first insulators ever made on those telephone poles as she rode the train?"
"Cool," Livia said, although she doesn't quite know the full story of insulators other than the fact that they're really old, pretty pieces of glass, Mom is nuts about them, and Dad rolls his eyes every time Mom brings home another one.

And on we read, my excitement over that passage second only to Laura's excitement about the train's red velvet seats and wondering if they'd survive the train ride -- apparently there were many derailments on the early railroad resulting in much injury. Like any "new" invention, the kinks needed to be worked out, and until then, you basically took your life in your hands while riding the rails.

But all those insulators...it never struck me until now. Can't you just picture them as Laura did, all new and shiny, gleaming in the blazing sunshine like stately sentinels, perched atop the poles? What stories they have to tell! 

And if you ever want to get the full railroad experience, complete with insulators, I recommend to you Laura's book, "By The Shores of Silver Lake." What better way than to view it through the eyes of a child?