Must've been hard being Half-Pint

Let me just say it: I would have died growing up in olden times — no doubt about it.

Having gone just a couple hours without power this morning, I can't imagine how the Ingalls clan survived back in the "Little House on the Prairie" days. With nothing but a Walkman that picked up AM radio to "entertain" me — and I use that term very loosely — this morning, I was all but lost without my 21st-Century comforts. After some 90 minutes, I had to leave the house. God only knows how Ma and Pa Ingalls, let alone Mary, Laura and Carrie made it through those rough days in Walnut Grove lo those many year ago.

With that short lack of electricity this morn, I had no TV, no DVD player, no Playstation 3, no phone ... you see where I'm going with this. I can't imagine what it must've been like living during the "Prairie" days.

I used to have a joke that went like this: "Oh, this is my favorite episode of 'Little House on the Prairie' ... the one where the Ingalls endure some kind of hardship!" For me, just living in the olden days would have been hardship enough.