The Amish Way

Horse drawn buggies, fresh veggies, farm fresh eggs, baked goods, farms, barefooted children, bearded men wearing suspenders, women in long skirts and head coverings...These are just a few of the first impressions we got from our trip into Amish country the other day.  This community is about 30 miles from our home.  Mary E. thought it would be fun if we had a buggy.  I asked her if she would have the patience to get from point A to point B in a buggy going 5-8 miles per hour!  It's a simple, slower, and more difficult way of life compared to the way the average American lives.  I respect their practices of growing, making, baking, & crafting their own goods.  When you see how they live up close and personal it's so starkly different from our lives.  This was evident while parked in the gravel parking lot at the bakery- we saw two little Amish boys waiting for their mother or father in the buggy.  They were close to my girls' ages, dressed in their light-colored collared shirts, suspenders, and barefooted.  They sat wide-eyed watching us get into our mini-van.  My girls were staring back at them, but were more enthralled with the horse that was hooked to the buggy.  

We grabbed a small inexpensive Dutch Apple pie at the bakery because the Blueberry and Strawberry/Rhubarb got snatched up before we made it to the register.  We all agreed it tasted plain.  We also stopped at a roadside stand and bought some fresh brown eggs from a family.  I plan on making future trips back to further explore the area.  We didn't even get a chance to check out the small shops where they sell handmade goods or the cheese factory.  We were content to just drive the countryside and look at the white farm houses, to see the buggies, the clothes drying on the line, and to watch the men working in the fields.  *I was trying to be discreet in taking photographs because they are religiously opposed to having their picture taken.  There were so many more shots I would have loved to have captured.