Wow. There's no way I can adequately narrate everything we did today. Since I can't import pictures, I'll give you just a snapshot of most of our events and describe in more detail the one thing I wasn't allowed to take photos of.
We started out by going to an Amish home where they sell quilts and other handmade crafts. They had an amazing selection of quilts, including two in the cathedral window pattern, my favorite and the one I've been working on for twenty years. One of them was $975 and one was $995. I couldn't decide which one I wanted, so I bought them both.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I bought a rug. And a Christmas ornament.
We then went to a large dairy operation, where my mother complained about the smell. Sigh.
After the dairy farm we went to a pretzel factory and a chocolate factory. Please send the rest of my clothes up here. Never mind, I'm going to have to buy larger sizes if I stay here.
Then we went to see Jonah at the Sights and Sounds Theater. After I got over the fact that it was from the Bible (I know I low, I don't know what I expected either), it was a fabulous show. But we'd been on the run and eating all day, so putting us in a darkened theater might not have been a good idea. I had to get a coffee during intermission.
The highlight of the day, though, was having dinner in an Amish home. I assumed they would split our group up, since there are 30 of us. But the Amish hold church services in their homes, so they are used to hosting large groups of people. All 30 of us ate with one family. This family is particularly capable of handling it. The husband and wife have only been married 11 months, both of them having been widowed. She had 11 children, and he had 7. They have 8 children still at home, and they have 36 grandchildren.
The Amish ask that people not take photos of their faces, so I didn't get any photos at all. They have a beautiful farm, but it was dark when we finished eating, and I didn't get any photos beforehand.
Let me see if I can possibly catalog everything they served for dinner. For starters there was fresh bread, applesauce, chow-chow, and preserves. Then salad, fresh corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, fried chicken, gravy, ham and stuffing, and buttered noodles. For dessert there was a jello-type peach pie, homemade vanilla pudding, apple pie, and brownies. I may slip right into a coma.
I want to write more about my impressions of the Amish culture based on the very limited information I've gleaned from a day and a half in Pennsylvania. But it will have to wait until I'm on a real computer.
Tomorrow is off to Hershey World and then Williamsburg. Good night!
1 comment:
I am enjoying your word pictures very much, B. That was some spread your Amish hosts put out! Yikes!
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