Steps: 4,442,750
Miles: 1865.64
Just down the road a little ways from where I live is Lancaster County, known for it's beautiful Amish farms. When I want to get out of the excesses of suburbia and the megalopolis sprawl, I take a short drive southwest and find myself in what may be the world' best managed farmlands.
The Amish movement takes its name from that of Jacob Amman (c. 1656 – c. 1730), a Swiss Mennonite leader. The Mennonite are known as the "plain people".
The Amish are an Anabaptist Christian denomination found primarily in the United States and Ontario, Canada, that are known for restrictions on the use of modern devices such as automobiles and telephones. The Amish separate themselves from civil society for religious reasons: they do not join the military, draw Social Security, or accept any form of assistance from the government, and many avoid insurance.
Lancaster Amish Buggy
- Noted for being black with a gray top
Two key concepts for understanding Amish (way of living) practices are their rejection of Hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value they place on Demut (humility) and Gelassenheit (calmness, composure, placidity) — often translated as "submission" or "letting-be."
The Amish way of life revolves around God, their families and their farms.
The main crops raised by Amish in Lancaster County, in order of acreage, are corn, hay, wheat, tobacco, soybeans, barley, potatoes, and other vegetables. Farmers also grow various grasses for grazing. Corn, grain, and hay crops usually stay on the farm for feeding livestock. Tobacco, potatoes, some grain and hay plus vegetables are raised for marketing. Farming is done with horse drawn equipment with metal wheels (rubber tires are not permitted).
Amish Girl and Woman
- The color of their prayer covering indicates their marital status.
Amish women never cut their hair, which they wear in a bun on the back of the head. On their heads they wear a white prayer covering if they are married and a black one if they are single.
Celery is the main food used in the wedding feast and is also used as decoration throughout the house. Celery is used because of its abundance due to economic dependences on farming. It is not uncommon for the family of the bride to pay for a wedding in stalks and acres of celery.
Amish Elders
- Married men do not shave their beards since beards are referred to in the Bible. Mustaches are not permitted as they are seen as "military" and therefore verboten.
A more complete reference for those who are interested.
16 comments:
Interesting post, Iggy. We have several Amish communities in our county, and most of these people are feed customers of ours. You would be surprised at how some of them differ.
Most of them have telephones up here, but they don't have them in their homes. They keep them in the barn or a shed.
We had an Amish boy working for us for awhile, and he would talk to the guys at lunch time about different things...at the other guys prompting usually. The guys eat lunch in the office so I could hear what he was saying. He watches tv on a little tv set they have in the barn, and he even owns a boombox. He quietly asked one guy at work one day if he downloaded songs on his computer and burned cds. He had a sheet of notebook paper in his hand with a long list of song titles he wanted, so the guy got them for him. LOL
I guess it depends on what community you belong to whether or not you can get away with owning some modern things. I do know the Lancaster area stays more with the old standards than they do up this way. My sister and her family go down to the Lancaster area a lot, and they've bought some beautiful Amish furniture. In fact, my sister and mother are on a bus trip today heading to Lancaster for some kind of show or tour or something.
(sorry for the long comment)
Love this post........ I LOVE the Amish and I would so love to be one LOL except I dont do god so that would be a bit of a problem lol.... but I LOVE their simple way of life and the community spirit and the 'togetherness' that they have.... see, I was born in the wrong century lol....
When we was in Wisconstance a few years back I almost became an Amish Stalker when I would see them LOL......
I can do aprons but I wouldnt be so good with the bonnets lol I DONT do hats :)
x
I would love to join a community like that where the first priority is God..then family. Too many people put God last. They are a smart group of people leaving behind technology and other things that can take your eyes off God. God bless them each and every one!
Wow I just thought of something LOL (you know me I'm slow)...they have an Amish community near Tulsa Oklahoma and they sell pies and cakes escpecially during the holiday seasons..Best durn desserts you ever had in your mouth. My cousin made regular trips out there to buy their pies.
That kind of life would drive me absolutely insane (more insane than I already am). I wouldnt miss my phone, but I'd miss all the other trappings of my life. Im with Karla, though, in the fact that the food's good! Im also with Marmy in that I dont do hats too well (I'll wear them but wouldn't like to HAVE to wear it all the time) and that would be trouble in and of itself. Besides, I'd have to grow my hair out again AND if I did that , it wouldnt fit under that itty bitty hat anyhow. Well shoot...I dont do that outfit well either. I'd be cast out for sure because my hem'd be too high, the sleeves would be nearly non-existant and my bonnet (*IF* I was actually wearing it) would be in a lovely leopard print.
LOL@toasty and Styxie.
You're right about the pies and cakes, Karla. My sister has brought home some pretty good desserts from Lancaster county. Shoofly pie is one. She will usually give Terri some of what she brings home. I don't care for it, tho...too rich for me.
Great post, Iggy. Many years ago I attended a conference in Hershey PA and drove through the Lancaster County area. Beautiful countryside. It seems the simple ways of the Amish fascinate many, yet few are willing to give up the "stuff" of life and embrace those simple ways.
We have quite a few "cells" of Amish communities here in Missouri, too. One of them happens to be right down the road from my son's place. They built all of the cabinets in Greg's house. Greg took us to see "Mose's" work shop. All of his equipment is gas powered, no electricity. Children were everywhere. Greg and Mose hit it off and are now friends. Mose even invites Greg's son, Allen, over to play with his son. The play usually involves work, but Allen loves it (he is 5). I don't know, but I think it is unusual for them to include the outside world when it comes to their personal life. Does anyone know if I am right about that?
The Amish also built our metal barn. They hire a driver since they don't drive. This particular set of Amish do use electrical tools in their work. But their homes do not have electricity.
I admire their simplicity and would like to just try their ways for awhile, but I am much too chicken to give up all things modern. Dang, I didn't mean for this to be such a long comment lol.
Can we choose what colour 'dresses' we have? on saying that, I dont do dresses to well either LOL and that grey sure would clash with me orange and red flowery doc martens LOL.... but they could teach me to quilt :) cos thats what I so wanna learn, maybe I could be a very part-time Armish, maybe just on a Thursday or something...
:)
Oh, and I wouldnt mind looking after their chickens on a Tuesday afternoon.......
x
I'm not aware of any Amish communities in Illinois, but I know there are some in Indiana and Ohio. I've never been to one, but I think it would be fascinating to spend a day or two with them to see how they live. With all our modern conveniences, it's hard to imagine them living life so simply.
The Amish community has always fascinated me. To the best of my knowledge we dont have any Amish groups in Australia but have similar groups scattered based on the mennonites. It would be wonderful to spend a week living the Amish way to experience what it is like. I am not I could or that most of us could give up the modern comforts that easily on a permanent basis.
Punkn I think it is unusual to friend an outsider. I do wonder if they venture to the outside world or just other Amish communitys to look for life partners to prevent marriage to relatives.
Lol marmi. I'm sure they would let you join part-time. How could they resist?
I actually have spent some time talking to the Amish in this area (I get a lot of my sewing supplies from them) and the families here are originally from PA.
One of the girls I talked to was getting married the following weekend. She explained it is a several day celebration. They wear the drab grey that Marmi so fears. No photos are taken as their union is about God, not about them.
It's not unusual for them to befriend the outsiders or "English", Aus. It's more common than you think. We all have to live together. They need things from the outside world, too. I've seen women and children in Kmart lots of times over the years.
The young man who worked for us was named Mose, too. He's told the guys about their weddings and celebrations....and about sitting on a bench for two-hour long church services on Sundays.
Very interesting post. :)
LOL@ Marmie and her part-time Amish status.
I'd suspect that since some produce product to sell and that they do need stuff from the outside world now and then that interaction with people not of their ways is going to be inevitable. Communication of some form is necessary for these interactions. You get enough regular customers and enough communication then there will end up being some amount of familiarity and eventually in some cases friendship.
I don't know the answer to your question Punkn - I think the Amish generally only try to avoid "outsiders" like gawking tourist that take their pictures (something they do not want as it is a "graven image" disallowed in the old testement) and in general "torment" them just by being in their face - and a comment like "You could be so much more than a farmer" might seem like a compliment to us, but to them it is a damning of their faith (as it inflates the ego, and so on). So they tend to avoid what they can - but they do know they live in a larger world and must deal with it.
I do know each Amish "group" (12-36 families headed up by an elder known as a Bishop practices different lifestyles as the Bishop interprets the restrictions differently. One group might allow electricity in the barn while others even have cars and yet others not allow any of those. The Lancaster Amish are largely "Old Order" and are most likely the strictest of the lot and primarily speak a dialect of german.
A precious five year old boy like your grandchild that helps with the work (and yes, the Amish do not really understand the concept of leisure) is probably welcomed because he helps, doesn't stress them in terms of religion, and is a child (they LOVE their children and average 7 per family).
The non-amish mennonite are a bit freer in lifestyle but remain "plain folks" too. I live in a community filled with mennonites - and they speak english, and even wear "sneakers" with air pumps and Mike Jordan flash (but nothing fancy above the ankles and the women all wear prayer caps - sorry LadyStyx and Marmite...)
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