Visits with the Amish: Impressions of the Plain Life (Bur Oak Book) PDF
Preview Visits with the Amish: Impressions of the Plain Life (Bur Oak Book)
visits with the Amish Y Z ABurOakBook visits with the Amish Y Z impressions of the plain life Linda Egenes with woodcuts by Mary Azarian UniversityofIowaPress IowaCity,Iowa UniversityofIowaPress,IowaCity52242 Copyright©2000byIowaStateUniversityPress FirstUniversityofIowaPressedition,2009 www.uiowapress.org PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorusedinanyformorbyanymeans withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.Allreasonablestepshavebeen takentocontactcopyrightholdersofmaterialusedinthisbook.Thepublisher wouldbepleasedtomakesuitablearrangementswithanywhomithasnotbeen possibletoreach. Thenamesofmanypeopleinthisbookhavebeenchangedtoprotecttheirprivacy. WoodcutsbyMaryAzarianusedbypermission.Figure1from“Buckles,Snapsand Straps,”Plain,10(December1995):22,usedbypermission.Figure2,illustration byJoAnnM.Gesner.Portionsofchapter1wereadaptedfromthearticle“ADay withtheAmish”fromCobblestone’sNovember1987issueontheAmish,©1987 CobblestonePublishingCompany,reprintedbypermissionofthepublisher. Portionsofchapters2–10previouslyappearedinPlain.ExcerptsfromTheBudget reprintedbypermissionofSugarcreekBudgetPublishers.DrakesvilleAmish SchoolsonglyricsbyLena(Mast)Yoder.Lyricsfor“NoNightThere”byJohnR. Clements,usedbypermissionofHeraldPress. TheUniversityofIowaPressisamemberofGreenPressInitiativeandis committedtopreservingnaturalresources. Printedonacid-freepaper LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Egenes,Linda. VisitswiththeAmish:impressionsoftheplainlife/byLindaEgenes;with woodcutsbyMaryAzarian.—1stUniversityofIowaPressed. p. cm. Originallypublished:Ames,Iowa:IowaStateUniversityPress,2000. Includesbibliographicalreferences. ISBN-13:978-1-58729-785-4(pbk) ISBN-10:1-58729-785-X(pbk) 1.Amish—Iowa—Kalona. 2.Kalona(Iowa)—Religiouslifeandcustoms. I.Title. BX8129.A6E34 2009 305.6'897—dc22 2008045827 Formyparents, who,liketheAmish, passedonasolid senseofvalues totheirchildren contents preface ix introduction: whoaretheAmish? xiii partone:home chapter1: athomewiththeHerschbergers 3 chapter2: milkingatwo-bucketcow 13 chapter3: cookingintheYoders’summerkitchen 23 parttwo:schoolandwork chapter4: learningthethreeRs 33 chapter5: howGraceYoderspenthersummervacation 43 chapter6: snaps,buckles,andstraps 51 partthree:community chapter7: theheartofAmishlife 63 chapter8: quiltingaboveStringtownGrocery 71 chapter9: atriptoDorothyMast’scountrystore 81 partfour:customs chapter10: playingDutchBlitzandDareBase 89 chapter11: courtshipandmarriage 95 furtherreading 105 preface I was driving down a gravel road nearKalona,Iowa,lookingforNormanKauffman,anAmishman who had agreed to talk to me. When I stopped by his farmhouse, hiswifedirectedmetotheirneighbor’sfield.Normanwasputting upcornsilagewithhissilagering,agroupofneighborswhoshared labor and machinery during harvest season the same way old-time farmersthroughoutAmericausedtodo. IpassedagroupofAmishchildrenwalkinghomefromschool, the girls swinging their lunch buckets, peeking shyly from their blackbonnetsandlongdarkcapes.Theboysduckedunderafence, takingashortcutthroughapasture,theirstrawhatsbobbingasthey dashedacrossthegrass. Itwaslateafternooninfall,whentheskyseemsmoreblue,the sunlightmoregolden,andtheairmorecrispandexhilarating.Hop- ingtofindNorman,IstoppedmycarbyagroupofAmishfarmers pitchingcornstalksontoawagon.Somethingaboutthescene—sun slanting golden on the corn, beards and hats bowing as men gath- ered cornstalks by hand, giant russet-coated work horses swishing creamytails—createdafeelingofeuphoria.IfeltasifIhadentered atimewarp,suddenlyfindingmyselftransportedtoanearliercen- tury.In13yearsofvisitingtheAmish,Ioftenexperiencedthisfeel- ingoftimelessness. Somehow,Ifound,whenfreedofthetelephonering,television prattle,andsuperhighwayroar,myheadcleared.OnmyvisitsIfelt light and unfettered, and extraneous thoughts evaporated. Surely therewassomekindofenchantmenttobefoundintheplainlifeof theAmish. AnyonewhoseesanAmishcoveredbuggylumberingalongas carswhizbycan’thelpbutwonderaboutthepeoplehiddeninside. Whatwoulditbeliketogrowupwithoutacar,withoutTV,with- out a telephone? What would it be like to finish school in eighth ix
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