A Simple Saturday Afternoon

Yesterday we were blessed with one of those remarkably beautiful autumn days that we’ve waited nearly three-quarters of the year to experience. I basked in the bright sun that filled a clear, blue October sky. With a high of 75 degrees, it was the perfect day for an afternoon drive – but to where? Ah, Amish country!

So what’s on the trip agenda? I want to be outside enjoying the beautiful colors of fall. Learning something of the Amish culture would be time well-spent, and I can’t leave without some homemade jam. This is the extent of what I intend to accomplish during my journey. It occurs to me that maybe I should do some research first to insure that my trip out to Strasburg, PA serves my defined purpose. On second thought, a buddy at work told me if I just take Route 1 past Longwood Gardens to 41, I should arrive and clearly recognize that I’m among the Amish within about 1 hour and 10 minutes. I’ll just hop in the car and go for it! After all my agenda should be easily met fairly immediately upon entering the general area.

Seemingly no sooner decided than do I find myself surrounded by open farmland. I have never seen so many acres of corn, barns, and silos. I have arrived! If there remains any question whatsoever, up the road there I spot a horse-drawn buggy dart from one farm, across the street, to another. Yes, I am most definitely among the Amish. Within just a few more minutes I am pulling into a quaint little spot called The Amish Village located in Strasburg, PA. Clearly, I've stumbled upon exactly the place to accomplish my afternoon agenda!

Outdoors enjoying the fall weather and colors, learning about the Amish culture, & finding some homemade jam.

I begin with the 1840's farm house tour for a cost of $8.25. This is where I pick up several bits of information that I did not know about the Amish. Spawned from the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe they were defined as Anabaptists based upon their fundamental belief and practice that baptism is reserved for adults because infants cannot make an informed decision to uphold the practices of the faith as they are not yet able to discern between good and evil. The Amish emerged as their own distinct church on the Swiss-German boarder with a small group of Mennonites led by Jacob Amman in the late 1600's. Amman led a movement to break from the Mennonites, and revert to the practice of shunning of members who didn't conform to church teachings. By the 1900's the Amish had migrated away from Europe. Those remaining rejoined the Mennonites. There are no Amish occupying Europe today.

The Amish do not maintain church buildings. Church members reserve a parlor in their homes where meetings are held bi-weekly on Sundays from 8am until noon. The parlor is solely for the purpose of worship which includes congregational singing with no musical instruments followed by a 3.5 hour sermon. They continue to use the Martin Luther version of the Bible written in German. The Amish speak  Pennsylvania Dutch. It is a dialect of the German language. The word Dutch should be Deutsche. It was simply mispronounced when these German-speaking people migrated to America.  

The Parlor: This is where the community gathers for church service.

The largest room in the Amish home is the kitchen. It is where much work takes place and where the family gathers outside of church and working the fields. Today the Amish use propane to fuel more modern ranges, refrigerators, and lamps. The floor lamp beside the stove is on wheels. The cabinet houses a propane tank. This is a more modern day convenience over lanterns. In-door plumbing relies on air pressure.

You will find one mirror in the Amish home. It is in the kitchen and solely for the purpose of  men shaving. See the flash?

Women spend a lot of time sewing and working with foods. There is a second kitchen that is used in the warmer weather to keep from heating up the house. The celler is a place used for churning butter, canning, and putting up food for the winter.

The large pot weighs 80 lbs empty and over 100 lbs. full. There's a steel beam overhead, and a pulley system is used to move the pot off the heat. The wooden barrel is a butter churner with a turning handle on the side.

Most of us are aware that the Amish observe a "no vanity" policy. In this they dress very plainly and wear mostly black with no adornments of any kind. Even the buttons on their clothing are intended to be functional only. They use suspenders rather than belts to avoid the shiny belt buckles, and buttons are typically black. This is in opposition to the German soldiers whose uniforms were adorned with shiny buttons. In fact, they use eyes and hooks for fascinating on most of their handmade pieces. Here's another interesting fact about Amish attire. What they are wearing indicates whether they are married or single. It is all in the head covering.  See these two hats?  Look closely and notice that the one on the bottom is popped out at the top and the one on top is flat. That flatness is created by an indented ridge that goes around the top of the hat. When a man is single he wears the hat with the ridge. Once he is married the ridge is popped out. Now, this same rule applies whether he is wearing his straw hat while working or his black hat. 

All Amish will have their heads covered whenever in public.

So how will we know when a woman is married or single? The bride will wear a handmade dress the color of her choosing (within the acceptable color range, of course, so nothing too bold or flashy.) She will wear a white apron that has never been worn before and a black kapp. After the wedding her black kapp will be replaced with a white one signifying that she is now a married woman. The white apron that she wears on her wedding day will not be worn again until her burial.

You may be wondering how the Amish justify their beautifully-crafted, colorful quilts. They do use these fine textiles in their own bedrooms on the premise that no one outside those in the home enters the bedrooms so there is no perceived vanity associated with the use of the quilts.

The quilt pictured sells for $700. The Amish have large families of 6 to 8 children so cradles are in the bedroom for years.

On to the out of doors to tour the grounds and enjoy some of the beautiful, autumn weather and colors. Didn't have to look too far!

WOW!

1. 

The Amish craft beautiful (expensive) furniture.

I encountered plenty of covered buggies over the afternoon in Amish country.

I would be remiss not to share the Amish education system. I actually had the privilege of meeting the school teacher while touring the one-room school house. Youth from grades 1 through 8 are taught here. It works because students are provided with daily work aligned with their individual ability. I do understand this concept because my daughter's elementary education was within the Montessori system which practices similarly with more than few differences, I am sure. 

Love the sign at the threshold of the school house.

From the time that I entered the room until I existed the building I was wholly engrossed in all of the educational opportunities around me.

Very inviting with the school bell overhead

The desks in the front are smaller.

I was thrilled to find that the Dick and Jane books are still in use. They were encased so I asked the teacher if they are still actually used to teach reading, and I am pleased to know that they are!

"See Spot run!" Love it!

Okay, what else did I declare was on the agenda for the afternoon? Homemade jam?

Done. And some honey to boot!

Now, if you're gonna drive out to the Pennsylvania Amish country go ahead and stop for a smorgasbord supper. You will not regret that, no sir. I had a feast before leaving town -- with some of the best service I've received anywhere in a long time. Gotta love that blue sky!

Some may say, "Why take a whole afternoon to drive all the way out to Strasburg to learn about the Amish when you can just research it on the internet"? To this I respond, "You're kidding, right."?