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Wednesday
January 4, 2017 |
![site index [Picture of
the Day logo]](../images/cammicro.gif)
| Staying with my in-laws in Sunbury,
today we took a trip about
65 miles NE to Holmes county, deep in the heart of
Amish country. It's beautiful land, with rolling
hills, sere fallow fields, and skeletal winter woods
the sun danced through as we wound down the two-lane
blacktop. In Millersburg we bought a 100-year-old
coffee grinder in a store where the thousands
of antique tools were being sold to be used.
The Mennonite proprietor took his time talking and
had a charming way of saying ren-ahv-iation
for renovation, a word he was partial to.
Father-in-law Bill was looking for some heavy
leather to upholster a chair and we were directed to
a buggy store where they made harnesses, crops, and
all the other accoutrements
in a small factory in back of the shop. He was
thrilled to get a roll of what he needed for $16,
cash or check only. With common roots but slightly
divergent doctrines, there's a spectrum from Amish
to Mennonite, with the latter more accepting of
modern tools and ways. We learned a little about
that by taking the guided tour of the Behalt
Cyclorama, a slightly psychedelic 265-foot
circular mural which retells their 500 year history.
I asked if they get many converts. There's much
about their community-centered, self-sufficient,
techno-skeptical lifestyle that appeals to me. The
farms are so pretty and it's refreshing to see
people walking about, even in the cold. The
fundamentalist Bible interpretation is a turn-off,
though. |
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