Dance at Grandpa's

Today's chapter in Little House in the Big Woods is one of my favorites in regard to description. The family piles into the sleigh for the dance at Grandpa's to mark the end of the sugaring season. Grandma meets them at the door, smiling and calling them indoors. Laura has never seen a room as long as the great room. She watches attentively as Grandma make hasty pudding (which they later eat with fresh maple syrup). She loves watching Aunt Docia and Aunt Ruby dress for the dance, carefully parting and braiding their hairs. What really astounded the children, though, was the description of the tightening of corset strings! The girls could not believe anyone would do that, and the boys kept trying to span their hands like Pa's to imagine going around a waist. They loved the jigging competition between Uncle George and Grandma and wished they could get plates of fresh snow to be covered in a ladle of maple syrup. It feels so good to share stories with children...and to revisit favorites myself.