If my Facebook friends are any proof, it seems that the worlds of Little House fandom and Sound of Music fandom have some overlap. I’ve loved the Sound of Music since I used to wait breathlessly for its one annual appearance on network television — usually on a major holiday like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. (The other holidays were for The Wizard of Oz.) Since my kids have recently watched and (thankfully) fallen in love with the story of the Von Trapps, I’ve been on a bit of a Sound of Music kick. I watched the rerun of the Oprah 45th-year reunion special over winter break, and in the midst of the holidays I read two books: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers: The Story That Inspired The Sound of Music, by Maria Augusta Trapp, and her oldest adopted daughter Agathe Von Trapp’s Memories Before And After the Sound of Music. (For the record, Maria is a much better writer than her daughter.)
I know that the Laura Ingalls Wilder world’s own Bill Anderson is also a Trapp expert and has written a few books about the family, so drawing a connection between the two is nothing very new or challenging. But although I’ve been a fan of both, I confess I’ve never read any of Anderson’s Trapp family work, though I have now committed myself to doing so. And even though I lived in New England for 31 years, I never have visited the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. Oh, the humanity.
But in the vein of worlds colliding, I did want to share one piece of info that made me smile. Perhaps this is old news to folks who are familiar with all of Bill Anderson’s work; if it is, please comment and tell me so. In Maria’s book, on page 238, she describes the aftermath of almost accidentally buying a new horse, Topsy. She puts Topsy in the barn next to the two-horse team.
The two-horse team, Prince and Lady.
Way.