don't be a willie

The first year the Owenses lived in Walnut Grove, Willie was blinded in one eye and damaged the other after playing with firecrackers. According to Laura Waskin's 1997 article in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Lore, "One day, a group of boys in town decided it would be fun to pile up some rocks in the middle of the road and blow them up. Willie was eager to please the older children, who persuaded him to go over to his parents' store and get some firecrackers. WHen he brought them back, the older boys lit them, and quickly put them into a striped paper candy bag. Then, they piled up gravel on top, and stood back to watch it all blow up. But instead, the firecrackers went out, so the boys asked Willie to go over and blow on them to get it started again. Not knowing any better, he obliged, Suddenly, the volatile material exploded..."
- posted by pioneergirl at 5:53 PM