I've always been intrigued, always been interested, always wanted to learn more, and always thought I would love to be AMISH......
No matter what nationality, no matter what culture, no matter what religion, I respect everybody and their differences. I do enjoy learning about different people, in different parts of the world. Yet one that truly stands out for me is the Amish. The way they talk, the way they dress, the way they cook, the way they see education, government, religion, secular world, and the way they totally live life.
These plain dressed earthly people have no intentions of ever changing their lifestyle as they have a strong belief system that they should be a group that is set apart from the rest of the world. They have a list of rules they have to follow ... There are different orders of Amish , the older Amish , the newer Amish and probably 6 more. They each have their own style of religion and conduct in daily life. Some of the things that intrigue me are their clothing, their transportation, their work ethic, their cooking, education, family dynamics, and maybe their fears?
I've done some research on the Amish.... Whether I will ever learn enough,,or understand or agree...I just enjoy this differcity. One of my most enjoyed times is driving in the Amish country .....I love admiring the beautiful scenery, the neat clean Amish farms and communities where life moves at a much slower pace. I love to see the one room school houses, and the kids outdoors playing, and they all run away and turn their heads when someone like me drives by. I just cannot even imagine what hard work really is in the life of an Amish. The horses look like Clidsdell horses, big and strong. The team of four or six sometimes will pull farm machinery, with the men and boys right beside. The beautiful rows of corn, tobacco, wheat, barely, hay or anything else. This past week, I spent hours in an amish community. I had my camera in hand, as I was a backseat passenger. (I just cannot figure out how to blog and add pictures to my blog from anything other than my own laptop back in California...so for now, I will share with you an hour or two in their life without pictures, and when I figure out how to include my pictures I will do that later..... So for now, come along with me, maybe even close your eyes and imagine thru my words. )
31 miles away from my parents home in Springfield, Missouri....a small Amish community in the town of Seymour. The first hint of Amish ....their horse and buggy tucked away in individual little covered barn... As these men are busily constructing chicken coops, little ones and really big ones, rabbit Hutchins and raised flower/garden beds, made out of the best wood. We stop to admire and actually inquire about a chicken coop.... As we get off highway 61, onto P highway there is a road sign that shows a horse and buggy and says "share the road". And it very obvious how heavy travelled it is by the Amish because of all the road apples left behind. The very first home we drive by has children playing in the yard.... Swinging on a wooden swing hung from the biggest tree I've ever seen, they swing higher and higher and even appears that one of the children was actually in the tree. You could sense their enjoyment, the smiles and the pushes on the swing of the smaller children. On the left was what appeared to be an entire family preparing their soil for their garden, whether it be soybeans, barley, potatoes, wheat, corn, broccoli, cauliflower or beans, they were all contributing, All taking part, there was the friendly wave from one or two of them. I was intrigued by the young children running down the road to the next farm, barefooted, without a care one, except to not mingle or pay one bit of attention to someone on the outside world as myself. I have always heard about this, but was able to visually see it for myself on this particular day. It was a Monday afternoon, school out for the summer, and it seemed like no one was around most of the farms, that was because half mile or so on the corner of P highway and Amish Loop, there were dozens of horse drawn buggies all centrally located, and all the men were doing their part of a "barn raising". It was breath-taking....literally, for those of you that know how it feels when your breath is taken away. I do admire how the Amish take care of their own. They seem to have such a natural ability for fine craftsmanship, whether its quilting or building or baking or canning. They are well known for their fresh produce, milk and farming skills. We meandered upon several roadside Furniture/saddle stores,
Fresh eggs for sale, or noodles, material to make clothing, quilts, green houses, dairy, honey, sorghum, jams and jellies. I couldn't pass up homemade dishcloths and dish towels.
I mentioned this was a Monday, (May 20th, 2013 in fact).. ..Mondays must be laundry day.....every home we passed or pulled into, clothes, both small and large, mainly black or dark blue were hanging on the clothesline, swaying in the gentle breeze. The Amish consider style and fashion to be vain. They feel that flashy garments are meant to get one' noticed, and that is not something they want to do. The curtains on windows are a solid dark color, the bed sheets appeared to be either blue or green or black.
We missed a turn on the dirt Amish Loop road, ending up at a dead end, in someone's home, there were 5 children on the porch, as soon as they saw us, they scurried each other up, hoovering over the little ones, protecting them. They each were barefooted along with the daddy who came out to greet us, or most likely to protect his family. He was kind enough to give us directions back out to P highway, and we thanked him and offered our graciousness, by wishing him a blessed day. We passed greenhouses, milk barns, fields of goats, and the wooliest sheep I have ever seen!
We passed the school house that was quiet and closed up for the summer. The grass was high,and the swings were swung around the bar, tucked away for the summer. The curtains seemed to be pulled to the side and gently blowing in the breeze. Windmills, open large ponds and beautiful yellow mustard I guess dotted every green field. I saw a gentleman walking back and forth each row of his crop with some type of backpack sprayer perhaps...... Imagining this was an all,day chore. I enjoyed the horses, even they were attentive and Leary of us.... Nae in' as I got probably alittle too close to their colt. I respected their space and continued on my journey.
In one roadside shop I stopped in , there were different woman doing business among themselves. Placing orders perhaps. I was hoping to buy some of their pastries, just so I could myself imagine and appreciate all the hard work that goes into their product. Their applicancies, no electricity to operate, all their lighting is by candle or gas or oil lamp. I could tell that these Amish women were far from lazy, their cooking and baking start in the early morning hours. They prepare their food by the light of a propane lantern, and their windmill pumps water into the home from a nearby well. These womens hands were large and strong looking, strong enough to prepare soil, hold the ruins of the horse drawn buggy and it reminded me of that song called "Daddy;s hand", gentle but hard working and strong.
I never imagined... But my daddy being the daddy he is was able to make this come true for me. Our afternoon drive was coming to a close, and I had thoroughly enjoyed my day in the countryside of the Amish, I had enjoyed the barn raising, the many chicken barns, the laundry hanging out on every porch, chores being done by each and every family member, the children playing till their heart is happy and content..... This was a priceless day....I didn't imagine that it could be any better....until, my daddy flagged down a horse and buggy driven by a young Amish gentleman and started a conversation with him. What took place next was beyond my wildest imagination.... Something that I somewhat want to keep to myself, yet out of utmost respect for this gentleman I want to share his kindness and willingness to let me in just a little bit more of the amish life. Before I knew it, I was balancing myself on 3 small tiny tiny metal steps into his buggy. As he straightened up the floor board if you would, I took a seat next to him.... I introduced myself and he to me. His name was "Johnny" yet pronounced "sssjohnny" I guess a kinda of a roll of the tongue German accent? Johnny asked me about California, earthquakes and let me know he's never been there before. We talked about the bad weather that was headed our way, I asked if they have storm shelters on their farm and he said "no, but we go under the floor". We talked about farming, travels, families and daily chores and my dental job in California. Johnny had about 3 miles to go, but said at the next mailbox, we should have our parting words, and we would go our separate ways. I extended my hand and thanked Johnny for his time and consideration on letting someone from the outside world come into his world even for a few brief minutes. We said goodbye, and Johnny and his horse drawn weather beaten, hard worked buggy clipity-clopped on down the road to continue on his daily life, as I got back into the backseat of my parents van, as we then headed back to our home, 31 miles in distance but thousands of miles of technology, and a complete different lifestyle,,that sometimes I wonder if we or I take for granted.
I am forever grateful for this experience, I will forever have the vision of all the black and blue clothing swaying in the wind, I will forever picture these Amish children almost sheepishly running away from us, except for maybe one or two who were also intrigued and waved at us, I will forever appreciate all the hard-work, dedication and passion that they put into their daily lives, yet leave me baffled and wanting to know more..i will forever be grateful to Johnny.... my Amish friend with whom we shared minutes of our lives togehter....
all of this because of HIS Amazing Grace
all of this because of HIS Amazing Grace
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