Re-visiting Little House on the Prairie — as an adult and living in MN

Color photo of me about 1983 dressed in a pioneer-era cotton dress, small red pouch with a bonnet tied around my neck and carrying a small, orange-colored basket

I’ve been in Minnesota now for a little over six years. I started “out on the prairie,” where I learned to better appreciate the land and nature. Now, with a new job, I’m in the Twin Cities. Luckily, I still have access to some of the 10,000+ lakes, but it’s obviously different.

Don’t get me wrong. It was the right move.

I like the traffic, and living with others in an apartment building. It’s a different feeling than when I was in Chicago and apartment living along with really just one lake- Lake Michigan, which I also adored.

After moving this summer, I had to get new utilities set up, and with a basic TV streaming, one of the channels is 24/7 Little House on the Prairie. Wow.

I remember watching LHOTP as a kid, and I now I realize I was probably watching reruns, since it debuted in 1974 (and at that time I was a baby).

Here I am today watching the episodes as an adult and also formerly living “on the prairie,” but now still in MN. When they talk about Mayo or Duluth, it means something to me.

LHOTP is prety serious for a kids show.

Some of the ongoing themes include:

• suicide
• death by fire
• going blind
• child abuse
• elder abuse
• spousal abuse
• child trafficking
• opium addiction
• almost dying from disease
• epidemics and dying from disease
• racism
• classism
• anti-semitism
• starvation
• sexism
• bullying
• cancer
• adoption and abandonment
• disability and ableism

I remember wanting Pa, played by Michael Landon, to be my Pa- especially since I didn’t have a dad. He cried, hugged, was loving, laughed, and that full set of hair! He seemed like he was a great dad and husband.

I know some of the actors have written autobiographies of their time with Little House, and it wasn’t all great. I’m not naive to think that. However, it seemed like many made their peace before Landon died.

But as a show that premiered in the mid-1970s, it was pretty edgy and inclusive.

What other show taught about American Sign Language or a School for the Blind, where the blind taught blind children?

I have seen only two episodes with Native Americans and talking about land possession, so that’s definitely a gap.

Near Indianapolis, there’s a place called Conner Prairie, which simulates that era. I remember going there a few times with school, but also with my family. Mom made us bonnets and dresses. I know I have a picture of my friends and me dressed up- me, a dark-skinned Asian young kid with glasses in a floral bonnet and dress holding a basket. A forced smile.

With the streaming channel, I’ve watched the pilot episode, many in between, and the final episode. What a show.

Even though I’m not on the prairie any more, it’s fun to watch and be a proud resident of Minnesota.