It Only Hurts When I Blog

Greetings, Old Order Bloggish!

Charlie, Buddy Joe and I took a drive to Amish country yesterday.

'Amish country' around here refers to a large old-order Amish settlement around Ethridge, Tennessee in Lawrence County.

There are also Amish in Kentucky, not too far away.

What does Old-Order mean? That means the most traditional and conservative of the Amish lifestyles.

No electricity, no vehicles, no telephones. They travel in horse drawn buggies. They make and grow things with their hands and their labor. They dress in plain, dark clothing, often without buttons.

We go there often. It is a way to step back in time and out of the hustle and bustle of modern life. The vegetables they grow are wonderful. The baskets they make are beautiful (see photo above of the two handmade baskets I purchased yesterday). Getting glimpses of their lives is special and touching.

As you drive into Amish country - you may or may not notice that the electric poles disappear, leaving you with an unobstructed and picturesque view of the farms and countryside that is hard to find nowadays.

Beautiful fields of oats and corn were everywhere, with vegetable gardens near the houses. Plow and buggy horses were working or grazing, and we saw several baby foals who had recently 'arrived'.

Don't bring your camera - the Amish don't want photographs taken and we respect their wishes.
Monday appeared to be wash day. What is neat about Amish wash? Well, it all looks the same, for one thing. Rows of brown or blue clothing, just alike, in every size from child to adult. Even when washed, remnants of their hard labor remain.

Everyone works on a farm.

Some little girls in bonnets were hoeing weeds in a garden. Two boys were working FIVE draft horses in a field. Two boys at another house were picking summer squash.

Can you believe summer squash being ready to pick before May is even over? We bought summer squash, cabbage and onions yesterday. Nothing that fresh is available in the grocery store, and all the vegetables you see came to $4.

I don't think it's 'cruel' for children to have their own chores on a farm. Children nowadays sit around and say 'I'm bored' all the time and stay inside.

I need to tell about another visit to Amish country. We arrived at a farm and said we wanted to buy a bushel of green beans. 'Ok', we were told. A few of the children grabbed some bags and disappeared - we didn't realize they were going to go PICK a BUSHEL of beans right then and there, so we waited awhile till they got back! Some farms don't have anything lying around getting 'old'. If you want it, they will go pick it for you fresh from the fields.

I could tell a lot more stories about Amish country, but it's getting kind of late!

For more information about Lawrence County and a free map of Amish country to download, check out this link:

http://www.chamberofcommerce.lawrence.tn.us/tourism.php

Have a great week, everybody! TTFN!