I promised you the beauty of Pennsylvania and here it is! Perhaps it's the East Coast Girl in me, or perhaps it's just that beautiful, but either way I found the every day drives to be breathtaking.
This was an Amish market we stopped in frequently for insanely fresh and delicious veggies.
The county my family lives in is heavily populated by the Amish. They were a bit of a mystery to me so I (started) reading a book to try and understand more about their culture. With our crazy schedule, I didn't get past the first 15 pages, but I managed to learn a few things.
They are from German descent and are farmers by trade. Their farms are meticulously clean, pristine, and look as though they cut the grass with nail scissors!
For the most part, they don't use electricity of any kind but are ok with using gas powered equipment from time to time. This farmer below was pulling his equipment by horse, but the cutter was being powered by a motor.
They have an extreme work ethic and their rules are not designed because things are bad or evil, but designed to maintain their ethic and keep the family very close. For example...if you had lights in each room, your children might want to go to their own rooms to read. Whereas if you don't have electricity, the family will naturally gather in the kitchen near the large window and be spending time together.
Any of us with children must admit, our families spend a LOT of time apart while in the same house, connected to some form of electronic entertainment.
Some of this is by design of course ;)
They are also extremely committed to being "plain" or not fancy. This shows in their dress and hairstyles and sadly their teeth. Although the women do wear colorful dresses, they are very plain, all the same style and many don't use buttons as closures as buttons are too fancy. I saw more than one woman with her blouse pinned with a straight pin! Ouch. All the girls wear their hair in the same fashion - rolled back on the sides and in a tight bun - and most often wear a sheer "cover over." Men have a very severe what we would have called a "bowl cut" in my day as cutting layers in your hair would also be considered fancy. Shoes appear to be entirely optional.
As for the teeth, well brushing is considered being vain too so they don't do it. Most of the older Amish I saw had very few teeth left.
So let's break from the lesson for a moment...pretty right? These were my sights for a whole month! As much as I love the ocean and the beauty of Hawaii, it was nice to see this
landscape for a change. So much space!
(Of course this winter this was all covered in about 100ft. of snow and you can keep that thank you very much!)
Ok class, break time is over. Naturally cars are out of the question so it's not uncommon at all to come across (or get stuck behind) a buggy while heading through town. They are most considerate and move to the side so you can pass.
Fun fact: no rubber wheels! Their wheels on all their equipment are metal. Not sure if that falls in the fancy category, keeping the family closer category, or another one that I didn't quite get to in the book.
One of the reasons I was so fascinated with the Amish was that they were living and thriving while being surrounded by the "English" as they call us.
Most often, a religious group with vastly different ideals than modern society run screaming for the hills. They avoid "us" and move to a commune with high walls and have no contact with others outside of their group.
Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to the Amish. They interact with the English on a daily basis, they sell their produce, crafts and food to us. They are very friendly, and don't seem afraid at all that we will "corrupt" them with our dress or lifestyle.
The English and the Amish seem to co-exist nicely, even accommodating them with parking spots :)
Where are they heading you ask?
Wally World silly! Their Amish not aliens after all.
I'll have to finish the book, some of their customs still have me curious, but from what I saw they are a lovely, hard-working, family oriented people.
I found a great one page synopsis if you are interested:
This information just might be on the pop quiz :)
These shots are taken from my Dad's house
Pretty
Pretty
Pretty!
This concludes our mini-lesson on the Amish.
Class dismissed
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