Dee, I wish I had a camera

[gofish]

As I was waiting to pull out of Goodwill I was looking at Speedway across the road.

There at the gas pump was a Amish horse and buggy. The Amish lady was holding the horse and the man was putting gas in plastic tanks in a wagon being pulled by the buggy.

All I could think was Dee would take a picture of this. I don't even have a cell phone to take a picture.

[Dee]

What a sight, I'd love to have seen it and yep you're right, I'd have had to post it here.

[themartianchick]

They don't like to have their pictures taken, unfortunately. I love it when I'm able to get a peek into Amish life. It doesn't happen very often in my area. I love taking summer drives in Amish country...visiting the markets and sampling their wares. My daughters love to see the little girls with bonnets and the little boys in straw hats. Though I know that they try to keep themselves separate from "the English". I'd love to get to know some and glean some knowledge from them.

 

We tend to see the Mennonites a bit more often at some of the farmer's markets in the area. Many years ago, I lost a close friend/co-worker who had been raised as a Mennonite in PA. At that time in my life, I wasn't that interested in a more sustainable lifestyle and I never questioned her up about the things that she likely knew. I probably could have learned a lot. All I really remember of her stories is that she spent a year working in DC before coming back home to marry her sweetheart and raise a family. She absolutely doted on her dad. He had been a Mennonite minister. As a young man he worked for his father to buy a piece of land. When it came time to put a house on it, he cleared the land and used all of the rocks that he found along the way to build a large stone porch on the house that he built with his own two hands. I also remember her admiring my wedding rings and saying that she didn't have any because the Mennonite tradition didn't include rings to bind a couple together. She had a beautiful singing voice which I attributed to the fact that no instruments are used in a traditional Mennonite church.