Little House in Linden

Imagine five blonde-haired children racing each other across a grassy field. Their tan faces and brown eyes glimmer ecstatically as they sprint toward their mother, hardly panting as they all exclaim, “Maw-ee, the rabbit had babies! Butterscotch had two babies!” The mother smiles animatedly and continues to pat the infant on her shoulder. After going out to see the new babies, she remembers the peach pies that are in the oven, returns to the house to check on them and lets the kids tell her husband the good news. This story is true, and although it sounds like a homestead in Laura Ingalls’s times, these are my cousins, and this is their story.

My uncle is a mailman, who works hard at his job; he then comes home and works hard around the house. My aunt is a busy stay-at-home mother whose kids refer to her as mommy without the m’s, which is difficult to write phonetically. Their home is situated on a hill in Linden, with a long, twisty driveway and plenty of woods and soil for a garden. Originally, he built a log cabin that they intended to live in, but eventually decided on a more conventional home. They have six children: three girls and three boys, one of whom was born in early July.

The oldest boy of the family is thirteen—Joel, the bookworm and member of the Civil Air Patrol. His soccer speed is a result of chasing his sisters around the yard.

Laura, an eleven-year-old, is the bossy older sister and a baker extraordinaire. She used her baking skills to make and decorate a cake for her younger brother’s birthday. Unfortunately, the cake was missing an integral ingredient, the flour. When she discovered her error she promptly remade the cake and frosted it white with pink and purple flowers, not quite fitting for a seven-year-old boy’s birthday, but lovely nonetheless. The next girl, Amy is nine years old. She is a seamstress at her young age and produces a variety of clothing, both for her dolls and herself. She also knitted a blanket for her new baby brother.

Ethan is a lovable seven-year-old who delights in rocks. This summer he collected them in large piles throughout the house. He often searches the rocky hills about their home for fossils or unique stones. Always at his side is Ellie, the four-year-old. She has been obsessed with toy balls since just after birth; her favorite Sunday dress is covered in polka dots, and her eyes glow as she says to me, “Ilana, I have balls on my dress!”

The youngest, Peter, is only a few months old and has yet to develop an interesting personality, but his sisters have cuddled him and carried him since he was a week old. I am sure they will continue help him along every step of his life, picking for him his favorite color and toys.

These children love animals—especially rabbits, dogs and rats. They fell in love with rabbits when they saw them at the local farmer’s house where they pick up fresh milk and eggs every week. After thoroughly researching proper rabbit care, which included checking out and memorizing every book from the library on the subject, they got rabbits—for free! They proceeded to learn about breeding rabbits and now have a herd of them. Their other pet, a rat, belongs to Joel. The oldest girls bought him one for Christmas last year. Their dog, although he is usually well-behaved, has to be kept in his pen during deer season.

Deer season is an exciting time in my cousins’ household. After school, the kids sit with their eyes peeled on the woods in front of the house, because if they see a buck, their dad gives them a dollar. These sightings may lead to more venison to eat, because both my aunt and uncle have been known to shoot deer while standing on the front porch. Then comes the fun. The oldest three, Joel and Laura and Amy, help gut and skin the deer. My aunt proceeds to instruct them on how to cut the meat from the bone and remove the fat with very sharp knives. She then divides the meat into portions and freezes it in Ziploc bags. This all typically occurs over just a few hours.

My aunt does not just freeze meat, though. With help and hindrance from Laura and Amy, she cans peaches, tomato sauce, pears, green beans, and the uneaten half of the garden. Making sure her children receive the proper nutrients in their diet, my aunt cooks with nearly all natural ingredients—she even makes her own whole wheat bread and pasta noodles from scratch. Eating her whole wheat pizza, however, is interesting; somehow it just does not work. Her delicious baked goods are made without recipes—whenever my mom asks her for a recipe, she replies “I think it may have whole wheat flour in it…” which is hardly a help in decoding the secrets of her superb chocolate chip cookies.

As if she is not busy enough, my aunt also supervises my cousins’ education—she homeschools them. They learn by doing unit studies—a method of learning in which they read books and study history from the same time period. Biology labs are enhanced by annual deer dissections. Their studies are often promoted by their curiosity—Joel reads World War II books by the dozens, Laura has mastered the care of rabbits, and Ethan owns countless books about rocks. As much as they enjoy learning, like most children they enjoy the remainder of the day when school is done, and it never includes TV.

During the summer, my cousins frolic outside, swimming in their pool, jumping on their trampoline, riding their bikes on their rocky driveway, playing in the sandbox and playing tag. In the early weeks of June, Joel and Laura and Amy pick strawberries at the local field, working from six in the morning until noon in ninety-degree weather, earning sixteen dollars per day.

Clutching the fruit of their labors and the occasional dollars saved from sighting deer and doing extra chores, they all pile into the eight-passenger van and venture off to go yard-sailing every Saturday in the summer. They return home with a cornucopia of items varying from doll clothes and toy balls to items from the free box.

Sometimes the yard sales have to be missed for a week, because they go on interesting vacations. This year, my uncle took the oldest kids for a fishing trip down Pine Creek. Joel and Laura maneuvered one canoe, while he took Amy and Ethan in the other. They usually go camping every year as well, piling six children into a tent. I often wonder if my aunt and uncle sleep on those outings.

My cousins have been raised well: when they enter and exit the room they hug and kiss everyone and always remember to say thank you. When my sister gives her friends a tour of Williamsport she includes a stop at my cousins’ house to “show off” her nearly Amish relations. And recently, when our whole family was relaxing at the beach browsing through our Reader’s Digests and Newsweeks, I noticed my uncle studying the latest edition of the “Homestead Digest.”