Jump to content

Little House in the Big Woods Recap: The Long Rifle


Maggie Mae

3,344 views

The Long Rifle

Laura and Mary are schooled in the art of bullet making. Every night, Pa makes some bullets for the next day. I want to know why he doesn't plan ahead. The food will last. The woods are plentiful. This isn't like living in Huslia or Kobuk or Shungnak, where it's all hands on deck when a caribu herd comes around. He's got lots of food stored up. He can spend a day a month making bullets, which would likely save some resources. 

Also, let's talk about the fact that bullet making involves melting bits of lead, pouring it from a spoon into a mold, and telling his daughters to stop touching the still hot bullets. Lead. I hear lead is delicious, maybe that's why they keep touching them and then sucking on their fingers. 

After the bullets, Pa cleans his gun.  The illustration of Pa, Mary and Laura looks more like Mr Olsen (best character in the show), Nelly, and a brown haired toddler.  But I digress. Oh, nope... I just noticed he is NOT following basic gun safety in this illustration, but I'm not going to share it because I'm not sure sharing every single illustration falls under fair use. Sorry. He's holding like a cane, with his hand over the top. Never point the gun at anything you don't want to shoot! This must mean he wants to shoot himself through his hand and into his chin. 

Pa also keeps the gun loaded at all times. In my world, guns are always unloaded and locked in a safe, not hung on a hook across a door. The ammo is kept in a different safe. My coworker, however, just keeps hers in her purse. I dislike that immensely. She has kids. I don't. 

Also, what a pain in the ass. Pa has to stop after firing and reload by measuring gun powder, putting in a "patch" and then a bullet and a fresh cap. I just make sure the shell ejected and then slap a new one in. Technology! I also don't shoot animals. I shoot clay things with a shotgun and the target at the biathlon range with my biathlon rifle.  

Pa is a very good shot, and he always kills bears and panthers in one shot. I don't have panthers, but I always carry bear spray for bears because it's safer and more effective. I also don't think I would hit a bear that was charging me. I saw The Revenant. 

After the bullet making, Pa tells the girls a story. 

The Story of Pa and the Voice in the Woods

Pa was once young and his job was to track down the cows. One time, he got distracted by all the other creatures who lived in the woods and pretended he was an "Indian" until the birds started doing bird things. He called for the cows and they didn't come. (I can't imagine cows coming when they are called, but also now I want to go pet a cow. I used to have a great aunt in Northern Michigan (not the UP) who owned a dairy farm (not a factory type place) and I was SO shocked when I learned that dairy cows aren't black and white like on the package of milk (in the 90s). I was so shocked and upset that I didn't want to pet the depressing brown cows. I am sad now, because all cows have such big dumb eyes and soft fur. 

Look at this guy. 

Spoiler

f3e35ac76a5ed52042c4c20d18a1d0f4.jpg.9d9c9a2cd8b37550509fccb22e14fab2.jpg

Or these guys. 

Spoiler

il_340x270.805292670_67dc.jpg.c25dd211064d336f70576932c9842216.jpgweb_preview.jpg.68b608cf050650e90a7903f6bc1d2ccc.jpg

Other cows also deserve love. 

Spoiler

cute-baby-highland-cattle-calves-fb20.thumb.png.ac70fa7dcd6937c46500cabced41535c.pnghighland-cow.jpg.e56b501ec897dfe956415ce0b3baa77b.jpg

I don't know how I can reconcile my love of cows with my love of carne asada, skirt steak, beef bourguignon, bolognase sauce, sunday gravy, steak, and beef wellington. UGH the struggle is real. I want to be ethical and a good person, but there is nothing like tenderloin wrapped in mushrooms and puff pastry. Or a corn tortilla with grilled carne asada, cilantro, chopped onions, and hot sauce. I also really like pigs and would like to stop eating them, but then there is pasta e fagioli. 

I should blog more on Feed Jinger. 

Oh, right. Pa is out in the woods being racist against Native Americans but it was well before the civil rights movement and I'm not entirely certain Wisconsin was even a state yet, and he lost his family's herd of cows. It's after dark, and he's in the woods. He's running around calling for the cows, and I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit amused by a small child running around aimlessly yelling "here cows."  He thinks he hears a panther, but it's only his own breathing. He yells "Sukey! Sukey!" and then a VOICE from the woods starts yelling "Who?" back at him! He runs and runs. 

Spoiler

1:10 if the embedding didn't work. 

Anyway, spoiler alert, it's an owl. 

All of the cows had already come home on their own (or Grandpa had brought them home, It's unclear), and Pa had torn off his toe nail. 

Pa gets a thrashing at 9. His dad also makes fun of him a bit for being scared by an owl, which tells me he had his eye on the kid the whole time. 

__

I liked the glimpse of Pa's early childhood. The story had lots of adventure and excitement. I am less interested in bullet making and gun cleaning. However, I do like that these books are giving a very interesting and not - textbook approach to learning about day-to-day life in a bygone era. 

  • Upvote 7
  • Love 1

3 Comments


Recommended Comments

AliceInFundyland

Posted

Aw, you made me miss “my cows” We bordered a big old thousand acre field of cows. It had a pond and creek. We were allowed to play back there. There were horses that liked apples. The cows would break free, and wander the street.

This is all the happy Kansas stuff. Cows are big and doofy. Now that field has been McMansioned :( 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
smittykins

Posted

I’ve read that lead has a sweet taste, which is why small children eating chips of peeling paint on old buildings has been such an issue(there was an episode of Forensic Files where a 2-year-old Ethiopian refugee died from lead poisoning).

  • Thank You 1
Link to comment
formergothardite

Posted

Quote

 textbook approach to learning about day-to-day life in a bygone era. 

She really does go into such detail about random daily life! 

It seems I read somewhere or heard an explanation as to why Pa made the bullets each night but now I can't remember it and Google isn't showing me the answer. But if I recall correctly there was an actual explanation for that. 

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Posts

    • theotherelise

      Posted

      I agree, Shiloh being in the room alone struck me as isolation. 

      The boys bunk has Simon, Ezra, honor, and Theo. Shiloh is in the little bedroom alone  

      The girls bunk has Della, Nola, and Evie. 

      Toby and Titus are in the closet nursery. 

      The boys hangout room could be Simon and Ezra’s with the middle three in the bunk and the twins in the little room. Brother dad could still be in place for helping all of them in that arrangement. 

       

      • I Agree 1
      • Thank You 1
    • ptm6114

      Posted

      16 minutes ago, Cults-r-us said:

      So now we know from where duck biologist Botkin got his 200-year family plan theology. It must have been pervasive thinking in their little corner of the world.

      “The blessing given by Liberty Phillips to her sister Jubilee on her wedding day to her groom Adam:

      ’Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.’ Genesis 24:60”

      What in the actual psychopathy, backwoods-brainwashing do these people think they’re doing?! 🥴🤯😂

      • Upvote 2
    • thoughtful

      Posted (edited)

      On the evening of Sunday, March 10, some members of the pastor's family sang a special - God Wants to Hear You Sing. It opens with the lyrics:

      Quote

      Their chains were fastened tight
      Down at the jail that night
      Still Paul and Silas would not be dismayed

      According to the captions, the chains:

      Spoiler

      image.thumb.png.31d479b80ca43b6bf72173fd72f59e55.png

      Nothing worse than fuzzing chains.

      Baker announces the winners of the March Madness competitions from the last two weeks:

       - most tracts handed out: "Dad Baker." Dave's father, maybe?

      - most people led to Christ - a young woman who isn't there because she's in the nursery.

      In case you want to guess what their prize is before I tell you, I'll put it under a spoiler.

      Spoiler

      A gift card for Chik-fil-a.

      Baker reminds them that this is much better than three-pointers and anything else in that other March Madness.

      "Blessings neat special good encouraging?"

      A man is called on, and begins to weep as he talks about his son (who is 23) telling him he felt lost. He says he told his son to beg God to give him a purpose, and to make it so obvious that it can't be missed.

      This just breaks my heart. First of all, just because this man really sounds frightened for his son - regardless of the reason, I'd feel for him. But the idea that one's "purpose" has to come from a supernatural source just burns my hide. Their religious teachings make the already difficult experience of being a young adult and choosing your path even harder, burdening their kids with a sense that other people have gotten a message from God, and wondering why theirs hasn't come.

      This is something I hear a lot listening to religious apologists talk to non-believers; "How do you find your purpose in life?" Or even, "You can't possibly have a purpose in life, because you don't have God to tell you what it is." Some of them are (or pretend to be) oblivious to the idea that a person's life can be self-directed, that we can make our own purpose.

      I really hope this young man is not waiting around for a sign from God, in order to know what to do with his life.

      Baker, of course, uses it to bloviate meaninglessly. "It's amazing - saved, trusted Christ as savior, but not where ya need to be. There's an emptiness, there's a lost part there with no purpose or direction and boy, you get to the cross. That purpose and direction in your life that you know what God has you to do, fulfillment, joy, blessing, and you see how _______'s* doing, who was lost for a while, and loving life and serving God and helpin' people. Nothin' better than that, awesome. Pray um for the kids that are away from the Lord, OK? Who else? Blessing?"

      * He says another young man's name here.

      Did that make sense to you? Me either. He's probably thinking "It's Sunday night, not Wednesday night - didn't you hear me say blessings neat special good encouraging? Don't bring the room down, man."

      A young woman (who Baker makes sure to mention used to be "a bus kid") thanks Baker and his wife for what they taught her when she was little.

      Becky tells them that their missionary friends have gotten all of their support and the husband found a house in Africa that has five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Baker asks what country, and Becky tells him Uganda. So the screaming Bryants are finally going to Uganda.

      A man says it's been a blessing to learn so much in church. He was talking to a co-worker, he says, who asked him if he ever worried that he was wrong. Baker laughs at the very idea. The man says that so many things come to mind when he's asked that - of course, all of them are from the bible and what Baker has told him.

      Baker comments on that.

      A woman talks about a recently released inmate from the women's prison, who'd had trouble finding a place to live. But God found her one (this woman actually mentions the woman's case worker trying to find her a place while telling the story, but no - it was God that actually provided).

      Baker comments on that.

      Pastor's wife says she talked to a woman who recently moved to their area from Mississippi, where she'd attended a Baptist church all her life. She says she asked the woman if she knew she was going to heaven, and the woman said "I hope so." Mrs. Baker says she showed her, in the bible, how she could know for sure and said she thought it was "so sad that she hadn't gotten it" from her many years in church. But now she knew.

      Baker comments on that. If you're getting the idea that Baker seems to feel the need to cap off everyone's statements, to interpret them, add his two cents, and somehow make them his, you are getting the feeling of this part of the service.

      One of Baker's sons got to go swimming - oops, captions, that's soul-winning - with one of his brothers. It didn't start out well - nobody answering doors except for one guy who said he was going back in to take a nap. But two men "got saved."

      That's enough for now.

      Edited by thoughtful
      riffle
      • Thank You 1
    • Cults-r-us

      Posted

      18 minutes ago, ptm6114 said:

      So did I interpret this right—the article from the SPLC says Rushdoony, whom Howard Phillips was a follower of, supported the death penalty for gays?!
       

      And one of the links went to another article about Howard stating “Christian Reconstructionists' plans for dominion are multigenerational; families are encouraged to build dynasties with 200-year plans and to see their families as central to God's plan for history.”

      😵‍💫🤐🤐🤐 

      So now we know from where duck biologist Botkin got his 200-year family plan theology. It must have been pervasive thinking in their little corner of the world.

      • Upvote 2
    • ptm6114

      Posted

      2 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

      Howard was born & raised Jewish and converted to Christianity in the 1970s. According to this profile by the SPLC, Howard was very close to & a follower/supporter of Rushdoony. 

      Doug was pretty much raised in that shit and absolutely worshipped his father. So, I would guess that Howard's beliefs & activities had a lot of influence on VF

       

      So did I interpret this right—the article from the SPLC says Rushdoony, whom Howard Phillips was a follower of, supported the death penalty for gays?!
       

      And one of the links went to another article about Howard stating “Christian Reconstructionists' plans for dominion are multigenerational; families are encouraged to build dynasties with 200-year plans and to see their families as central to God's plan for history.”

      😵‍💫🤐🤐🤐 

      • Upvote 1


  • Recent Status Updates

    • Kiki03910

      Kiki03910

      https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/03/finally-engineers-have-a-clue-that-could-help-them-save-voyager-1/
      GO SCIENCE.
      · 0 replies
    • Kiki03910

      Kiki03910

      I love baseball but I'm dreading the new season because the White Sox ownership is THE FUCKING WORST. I watched Dominican League Baseball (Lidom!) over the winter and fell in love with their joy, spirit, and exuberance. The broadcasts were in Spanish and my Spanish is pretty weak but I loved catching phrases and repeating them. Bombe! I'm sad about MLB and Commissioner Idiota's busywork rules. But I love baseball, always and forever.
      I guess I don't have a point. Just bitching. Te amo mucho, Lidom!
      · 0 replies
    • WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?

      WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?

      Happy International Women's Day!

      Humanity may have some work to do, to improve gender equality, but I was glad to hear that France has taken an important step to protect healthcare for women (and people of other genders who can get pregnant). 
      (The links are just to a UN page and the AP News.)
      Anyhow, love to y'all!
      · 0 replies
    • Giraffe

      Giraffe

      Feeling ragey this morning. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon in the hope of getting help for an ongoing injury. I went to a (different!!) doctor late last year who completely blew me off. He wouldn't do diagnostic testin, he refused to send me to a specialist, and he just told me to "take it easy" and "take ibuprofen." I'm hopeful for today's appointment but I'm also feeling a SEVERE amount of rage at that doctor from last year! 
      · 6 replies
    • BlackberryGirl

      BlackberryGirl

      Well, the rash is back with a vengeance. It never completely cleared up. I saw the derm yesterday and they did another swab and yup, raging infection again, still? It is definitely strep skin infection. I am getting so damn tired and run down from this. Who the f would immagine being hospitalized freaking TWICE for a rash? 
      · 2 replies
  • Blog Entries

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.