Puppy clouds

    We drove from Percival, Iowa to Independence, Kansas today.  I have been doing some puppy wondering.  Are puppy naps better in Iowa or Kansas?  Or maybe Minnesota, Illinois or Ohio.  Tia Judy and Amanda have been pondering, too.  They are trying to decide which of the puffy white clouds they see look most like a puffy white puppy.  They think some look like I am leaping, and others look like I am rolling on my back.
 

 Puffy puppy clouds

 
    Today the thermometer reached 106, and the heat index was even hotter.  We listened to These Happy Golden Years and Laura explained how one cold winter the temperature was 40 degrees below, and that was before they added in the wind-chill factor.  It kept us thinking cool at least. 

More puffy puppy clouds

    Through puppy naps, puffy puppy clouds, soaring temperatures and miles and miles of corn fields Amanda drove and finally we arrived at The Little House on the Prairie!  It was far away from town, down quiet, prairie-filled roads.  It was hard to imagine Laura’s family living on the prairie all alone in that very tiny (puppy-sized) house.  Even Amanda was taller than the doorway.  It was cozy inside, but very hot.  We saw Ma’s shepherdess china figurine on the mantel and the red-checked table cloth that we have seen in every replica and authentic Ingalls home we have visited. 

Little house on the prairie

 
    Outside the breezes blew hot while insects tried to sing a welcome. Even the grass was almost too hot to walk on.  We loved the still, quiet air and the feeling of being alone where no one could be seen for miles.  We had seen many Native American names along the way, and thought of how the Ingalls had had to leave the prairies of Kansas because they were on Native American land. 

Little dog by little house on the prairie

 

    Back in the car we played puppy prepositions on the prairie.  Here are some: Rosie runs through the grasses, over the bridge, up the hill, down the bank, into the creek, across the fields, around the cabin, under the tree, in the wagon, on top of the bed…Can you think of more?

On top of the bed