The Long Winter

Another blizzard comes, and Ma puts rags in the cracks beneath the doors to keep out the cold. Pa has to be sparing with the hay he feeds the animals in the stable, because he must return to the homestead to replenish the hay. In the evening, he tells stories to the girls and plays the fiddle. He uses music to help them face things that are hard. When they must go upstairs to the cold, he plays a tune as they march upstairs to motivate them. The train cannot come, and the family is short on all their supplies including flour, coal, kerosene, and butter.

Almanzo is building a frame in his home across town. He begins emptying his wheat seed into the structure, and Royal demands to know why Almanzo thinks that he would sell Almanzo’s wheat. Almanzo tells him that due to the trains not coming through the blizzard, there’s no supplies and bidding will get high. Royal is a store owner, not a farmer, Almanzo reminds him, so he might bow to the pressure of a high offer and sell the wheat while Almanzo is out doing chores.