Antonia's Cellar

The cellar at the Pavelka Farm

When we first visited the Pavelka farm several years ago, I saw these cellar doors, one of the strongest images from Jim Burden's visit to Antonia's family farm as an adult.  At the 2018 Centennial celebration of the publication of My Antonia, when our group visited the farm, I was delighted when the cellar doors were opened.

 Standing by the steps down into the cellar were a group of Anna Pavelka's great granddaughters, and as I eavesdropped they were saying exactly what you might expect teenaged girls to say:  "I'm afraid to go down there.  There might be spiders, or snakes!"

The younger great grandchildren had no such reservations.  Their curiosity overrode any such fears and down the steps they went--boys and girls!

Of course, what I thought of was Nina saying to her mother Antonia, "Why don't we show Mr. Burden our new fruit cave?"  And, who could forget Jim describing: "Anna and Yulka showed me three small barrels; one full of dill pickles, one full of chopped pickles, and one full of pickled watermelon rinds," or Antonia telling Jim how much sugar it took to make the preserves.

Then there were "Nina and Jan, and a little girl named Lucie" who showed Jim the jars of "cherries and strawberries and crabapples."  And one of the older boys reminded: "Show him the spiced plums, mother.  Americans don't have those."  

Antonia used the spiced plums to make kolaches, and one of the traditions of the Cather Conference is kolaches with coffee on Saturday morning.  In 2018 there was even a class to teach attendees how to make this Bavarian pastry.

However, what caused my mind to flash back to the novel most vividly as Anna Pavelka's young descendants emerged from the cellar was this passage:  "We [Antonia and Jim] were standing outside talking, when they all came running up the steps together, big and little, tow heads and gold heads and brown, and flashing little naked legs; a veritable explosion of life out of the dark cave into the sunlight.  It made me dizzy for a moment."

That image, of Anna Pavelka's young descendants emerging from the cellar will stay with me for a very long time. 

I hope you have enjoyed this series based on the 2018 Cather Conference in Red Cloud, Nebraska, which shared a time when those in Isaac Werner's community on the Kansas prairie were living in much the same way.  I hope this series of blogs has made you curious to read (or re-read) My Antonia, or even to visit Red Cloud to make your own pilgrimage to see the many sites easily identifiable as inspiration for Willa Cather's novels and short stories.  The exhibits in the Opera House are impressive, including the current display of what the Shermerda women might have worn in their homeland before immigrating to America.  You can also visit The Willa Cather Foundation online to learn about special events occurring in the Opera House.

(Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge them.)