Last Friday Elin left a comment on the post “Do we romanticize the Amish?“: “I have read some of these books and enjoyed them but I have realized that the Amishness of the characters is not more than polish. They are often just stereotypical ‘good Christian’ wearing Amish clothes. They are the same characters as in the Christian inspired fairytales I had as a child…
I hope you enjoy these shots of an Amish settlement in Hardin County, Kentucky, taken a while back on a beautiful summer day (note: this first photo is not an Amish place, but is from a nearby town; all the rest are Amish). More Kentucky Amish posts: Munfordville, Kentucky Amish Graves County, Kentucky Amish Kentucky Amish…
Another photo today, of an inspirational wall decoration from an outhouse at an Amish school (thanks again to Karen Johnson-Weiner). If there is any place that could use a little livening up, I guess it is the outhouse. Â And why not include an uplifting message? Â Actually I guess this is more of a lesson in humble sharing: Outhouses have been in the news lately. Â USA…
When was the last time you went car shopping? Â Have a fun time? If you were buying new, odds are you had to pick through a whole pile of choices. Amish buggy buyers have their fair shake of options to choose from too–everything from the upholstery to the lighting to the dash to the battery holder (a relatively new feature in Lancaster County has the…
Following up last week’s photo of a Michigan Amish kitchen, we have another shot courtesy of Karen Johnson-Weiner. Â I think you’ll notice quite a difference between this week’s and last week’s photos. This one was taken in a Swartzentruber Amish kitchen. Â Swartzentruber Amish are among the plainest and most conservative Amish groups: I’ve zoomed in on a couple of bits. Â The utensils: And the stove:…
When I first began spending time with the Amish, I felt like I was entering another world. Â I would drive my car from gritty Decatur, Illinois, where I was living for the summer while selling books, 45 minutes southeast to the farms, fields and fresh air of Moultrie County. Crossing into “Amish territory”, it seemed like I passed through an invisible border. Â Much of what…
Two weeks ago NBC ran a piece on Mennonites building homes in the Gulf area, post-Katrina. Five years after the fact, it’s easy to forget there is still a rebuilding effort going on down there. Â The video below shows Mennonites working on homes in Bayou Country in Louisiana. “We don’t have to know somebody to do good for somebody” says one of the young Mennonite…
Continuing the “10 views” series, today we have photos of Juniata County, Pennsylvania. A couple months ago we had a post on the Juniata County Amish. Â This community is one of the many lesser-known Pennsylvania settlements. With 8 church districts, it’s actually a pretty sizeable one. Â That’s about 1000 Amish, give or take. But Juniata County is overshadowed by nearby Big Valley, nearly 4 times…
I think you’ll notice quite a contrast between this photo and last week’s Swiss Amish home photos. Â This was taken in a Michigan Amish home by Karen Johnson-Weiner: Comparing these photos you can really see the diverse material standards of different Amish groups. I’ve zoomed in on a couple parts to make things more visible: Notice anything familiar? Also if you missed it, inside a…
I left a couple of photos out of last week’s Bowling Green, Missouri Amish collection. Here are shots of an Amish beekeeper’s facilities, and the happy end-product (courtesy of Beth Russo, thank you Beth). Â First, the hives: These hives are located on the Hilty farm, known as Hilty’s Bee Yard. Â In addition to regular pure honey, Hilty’s sell Raspberry-flavored Honey (see below), Buckwheat Honey, and…