photo: Scroonch From Lancaster, Pennsylvania, through Ohio and Indiana and on out to other long-established settlements in Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, we tend to associate the Amish with the nation’s middle latitudes. Since their earliest years in America, the Amish have gravitated to the cooler climes of these corn and dairy regions. However, the Amish have also had a long history of attempting to settle…
The caption accompanying this photo in an AP story on Amish and gas usage reads: “Using real horse power to get around, an Amish buggy makes its way through Middlefield, Ohio, unconcerned about the rising gas prices…” Actually, the Amish aren’t as oblivious to rising gas prices as we might think. While it’s true they don’t have to worry about filling up a gas-slurping SUV every…
Taxes, puppy mills, cream-cheese muffins–I just looked down the list of posts for the last couple weeks and realized that the Amish have been the subject of a good bit of controversy recently. Most of it fairly tame. But this one made me do a double-take. Apparently tempers got hot at the championship game of the Regency Hockey League in Lancaster County last night. According…
Amish people often ask a lot of questions when you tell them you have visited places overseas. I’ve spent a good bit of time explaining to inquisitive Amish folks how people live in Poland, or what it’s like to climb Mt. Sinai. By the nature of Amish life, Amish mobility is typically more restricted, and many are naturally curious of life outside as a result….
Electric lights, shuffleboard, good eats and visiting to your heart’s content. And:Â no messing around with buggies. It really is a blast down in Pinecraft. A nice article (no longer online), just out in the Urbana/Champaign News-Gazette, on Florida’s Pinecraft Amish community, gives a look at life in the Amish vacation capital. You can just tell by all the wisecracking and excitement in this piece…
The Old Order Amish congregation of Pinecraft in Sarasota, Florida, does not use the horse-and-buggy. Amish in this congregation get around by way of bike as well as large adult ‘tricycles’. Pinecraft is mostly made up of older residents and seasonal visitors. Read more on the Pinecraft, Florida Amish. Pinecraft is also home to numerous attractions including restaurants and beaches. There are also a number…