YES…he not only gave me permission to photograph him, he saw the camera and brought up the subject! But he was quick to caution me that his neighbors would NOT feel the same way!
This sweet, funny, generous and knowledgeable Amish gent gave us a rare treat today. He drove Rick and me through miles of the countryside he knows so well. Seven generations of his people have farmed and lived on this land.
On busy country roads and down little narrow winding back roads…right past the doorways of working farms…over hill and dale we ‘clip clopped’ along.
At one farm, a little Amish lady stepped outside and said she had “fresh bread…right out of the oven…if we needed some?” Oh, sure we’d pass THAT up! And when she handed it to me…the loaf was still warm to the touch and ‘Oh, that smell!’ I asked if by any chance she had any tomatoes? She just walked over to the garden and picked a few!
Levi, who no longer farms, said “That sure looks good…my wife hit our only tomato plant with a weed whacker!” They both laughed…but the lady was quick to offer him food to take along home. He was just as quick to tell her, with quiet pride, that his seven children all had gardens and they “take care of the old folks fine.”
Forever, the sight of a buggy will make my heart sing…now that I’ve experienced the ‘horse and buggy days’. Cars are so much more efficient but, oh, how much we’ve lost in the change! Now I know that you can hear the birds sing over the clip clop of the horses hooves…and feel the breeze push the hair off your face. And smell the cooking aromas from the windows of kitchen farmhouses as you pass by and the sweet smell of hay being mowed and wild flowers beside the road. And other smells…best not mentioned! (smile) All of them a rich soup of sensation.
This young girl is handling a three span mule team…That’s not easy!
Levi was such a delight. He told us jokes and filled us in about the neighbors and made us ‘feel’ the Amish way of life. It’s as if he ‘knew’ all the members of his seven generations of family printed in the ‘Book’. He would point out a farm and say that’s where my great grandfather settled in 1910. He knew the history of all the farms and who lives there now. And he delighted in answering any question I could think up about their daily lives. What a joyful experience this has been…our ride back into the ‘old’n days.’
When we finally got back he shook our hands and said “I hope you’ll remember me in your prayers. We all need each other… now, more then ever.” Even these gentle folks are fearful in the wake of terrorism.