I sure hope you had a wonderful celebration on the 4th of July! Even if you stayed home in the comfort and coolness of your home, I hope you took time to be grateful for our independence and freedoms in our country. I know our country has its share of problems, but we can certainly give thanks for so much goodness and abundance around us.
We were blessed to have our two sons and their families join us for a few days of meals together, laughter, and reminiscing about so many things. With the sunshine and a little breeze on the 4th, the grandkids and all of us roasted hot dogs and made s’mores over a fire outside. My brother, Tom, came to join us too. He called it a “feast”…if we thought about it, it probably was in the eyes of many in this world. Tom is a bachelor of many years, so I think whenever he can join in a family meal he enjoys the company and the food.
A few hours before we enjoyed the fire pit, most of us congregated at the Slayton swimming pool for much splashing and sliding and diving into the water. It was a warm afternoon, and it was great fun to watch the cousins enjoying time together while cooling off. Grandpa, who is not a swimmer, decided to stay home and mow the farmyard before the rains came pouring down again on Friday. He covered quite a lot of ground while we all disappeared!
Friday found us caravanning to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, to enjoy the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in the afternoon. Our family had not been there for about 35 years, and there was a lot to see and learn about. We enjoyed a community supper put on by a couple of the local churches before we headed out to the pageant site for the evening production. The rain had left by then, and we actually had a comfortable time in the cool breeze. Neither too hot or cold. The grandkids all had their own blankets to ward off any bugs that might be lurking around.
The production is held outside, but doesn’t begin until dusk at 9:00. The lights come on, showing the grassy stage in front of you. A dugout home, shops of the early prairie town, and the insides of a house and church where several of the scenes occur. So many volunteers of the area come together to make this creation happen! “Fragments of a Dream”, the title of this outdoor drama, lasts about 2 hours, with one intermission.
This play was originally staged in 1978 inside the Walnut Grove school auditorium. Soon after, the play continued to be presented “On the Banks of Plum Creek” just west of the town itself. The outdoor amphitheater was constructed to improve lighting and special effects. Originally the script focused on the Ingalls’ family life seen through the eyes of Caroline, Laura’s mother. In 1993 the script was modified to turn the focus toward Laura Ingalls Wilder and her personal reflections of life in Walnut Grove when she was a child in the 1870’s. The producers of this huge cast of children, adults, and animals continue to try and improve the story to make it as accurate as possible.
If you have never been there, I would encourage you to take it in. They have two more weekends this July of performing. It is a mixture of happiness and sadness as the story unfolds with moving, friendships, grasshoppers, fires, dancing, and finally moving again as the Ingalls family moves on. The cast enlightens the audience of the little oasis on the prairie that Walnut Grove was in the 1800’s. Those of us who have made our homes here on the prairie can appreciate all of the hard work that it took to settle this land, and the people who helped create the small towns around us.
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