We crossed into Pennsylvania after crossing a very swollen river (by the way, all of the rivers we have crossed have all been at flood level). It is nice to be on the move again after our sweet week of "stillness" :-)
As we approached Intercourse and Bird in Hand (yes, there are some interesting town names around here), we began to see the amazing Amish farms, most surrounded by large farm yards and with many outbuildings and usually more than one home. They are typically neat as a pin, with Amish older children (we were here on a school day so the younger children were not out) pushing their manual lawnmowers, behind a mule and plow with the Mama at the head of the mule directing through the massive garden beds. While I am saddened often by the religious emptiness that many of these sects espouse, their lifestyle of family togetherness through work and homesteading is something that we admire.
Most of the farm equipment we saw was pulled by teams of mules. Most Amish do use gas-powered tools including weed-eaters. Joe thought that it was hilarious to see an Amish teen girls dressed in black and with bonnet using a gas trimmer around her front porch.
We were fortunate to see a lot of laundry on the lines. Here is something interesting -- most of the clothes lines we saw went from the back porch of the house to the tip top of the highest barn. They use a pulley system to bring the laundry back in. Because their lifestyle revolves around avoiding pride, most Amish wear primarily black with pastel colors (never with patterns) as accents.
My understanding from my study of the Amish (my Mom loves to learn about the Amish and, in fact, took a tour of the Amish communities across America a few years ago), the buggy styles are dependent of the various groups and leadership given by the bishops for that group. This is the style we saw, all pulled by beautiful smallish horses with head held high and always at a trot. :-)
We crossed into Pennsylvania after crossing a very swollen river (by the way, all of the rivers we have crossed have all been at flood level). It is nice to be on the move again after our sweet week of "stillness" :-)
As we approached Intercourse and Bird in Hand (yes, there are some interesting town names around here), we began to see the amazing Amish farms, most surrounded by large farm yards and with many outbuildings and usually more than one home. They are typically neat as a pin, with Amish older children (we were here on a school day so the younger children were not out) pushing their manual lawnmowers, behind a mule and plow with the Mama at the head of the mule directing through the massive garden beds. While I am saddened often by the religious emptiness that many of these sects espouse, their lifestyle of family togetherness through work and homesteading is something that we admire.
Most of the farm equipment we saw was pulled by teams of mules. Most Amish do use gas-powered tools including weed-eaters. Joe thought that it was hilarious to see an Amish teen girls dressed in black and with bonnet using a gas trimmer around her front porch.
We were fortunate to see a lot of laundry on the lines. Here is something interesting -- most of the clothes lines we saw went from the back porch of the house to the tip top of the highest barn. They use a pulley system to bring the laundry back in. Because their lifestyle revolves around avoiding pride, most Amish wear primarily black with pastel colors (never with patterns) as accents.
My understanding from my study of the Amish (my Mom loves to learn about the Amish and, in fact, took a tour of the Amish communities across America a few years ago), the buggy styles are dependent of the various groups and leadership given by the bishops for that group. This is the style we saw, all pulled by beautiful smallish horses with head held high and always at a trot. :-)
Oh! I've always wanted to go to Amish country. I love the thought of the beautiful countryside, the shops and the food! I would definitely get myself a few cookbooks at least! How disappointing to miss out on Philadelphia! However, you did say you were "unscheduled" on this trip and we're praying you get over all those swollen rivers safely! The Price Family
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