This is the second line of the book Little House In The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - "The great, dark trees of the Big Woods stood all around the house, and beyond them were other trees and beyond them were more trees." I love that sentence and I love the feeling I get when I reread this classic tale. Life was simpler in the big woods. Laura didn't feel deprived even though she never got any pop, any Snickers bars, any trips to the fair, or any video games to play. She was grateful for what she had which was health and the love of family and a house in the big woods. Was she jealous of her sister's golden hair? Did she feel frustrated by the limits set on children by the parents? Of course. Real girls have all kinds of feelings. I might think of Laura next spring when I tap my maple trees with my portable electric drill, pound in my metal tap with a hammer, connect the plastic tubing to a milk jug which I will store in my electric refrigerator until the day I boil the sap in a metal pot on my electric stove. Although easier, I won't have as much fun maple syruping as she did.
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