Dinner with the Amish

Yesterday we went to an Amish dinner that was just a few miles away in the Amish country of the San Luis Valley. Well, part of it anyway. There sure were a lot of Amish folks there. And a lot of non-Amish folks too. I think this is a pretty popular local event, and I can see why. It was a fundraiser (by donation) for an Amish school.

There were horses and Amish buggies parked on one side of the fence and cars and trucks parked on the other. We pulled our black SUV in nose to nose with a couple of horses, harnessed to black Amish buggies. Our kids really enjoyed petting the horses. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of a parking lot of horse and buggies on one side of the fence, and on the other side, a parking lot of cars and farm trucks.

Amish dinner, parking

The food was great...home cooked grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, mixed vegies, salad, fluffy dinner rolls and several varieties of pies with a side of home made and churned on site vanilla ice cream. It was the best food I've had in a while, but probably not so good for my heart and digestive system. Still, it was a wonderful time, watching two (or more) cultures intermingle.

Amish farmers talked with non-Amish farmers...hay is hay after all. Kids ran around barefoot. As we waited in the chow line, there was an adorable little Amish girl in dress and bonnet, half hiding behind her mother as she looked at my little girl of about the same age and size with open curiosity. I can only imagine her thoughts, similar to mine, as we all encountered new people who live a little differently from what we have always known.

We ran into Levi, the nice Amish man we met at the shed store. We have talked with him at length about building us a custom cabin/shed, and if we had the money now, we'd be moving forward on that plan. He was very understanding about our delays though.

It sure was a lovely experience, and the anthropologist in me sat right up and took mental notes on a culture I have always romanticized but never come in contact with in any meaningful way. Big surprise, they are people too. They shop at local grocery stores. They ride in engine powered vehicles, although they get rides from the non-Amish locals. Some of them grow their own food in backyard gardens, and I suspect some of them don't. Some of their clothing is home and handmade and some of it isn't. They use some machines in their daily work, and I'm not really clear on the philosophy about that. But, you know, ultimately, it doesn't even matter.

What a refreshing moment in time when two cultures can come together in peace and simply enjoy each other's company and the shared abundance before them. If only we could extend these wonderful experiences out into the rest of the world.

People are people. They live, they laugh, they love. They experience pain and sorrow too, just like we all do. The one thing we all have in common is our shared human experience, and in that way we are related and connected. I am them. They are me. We are One.

Learning more simple ways

Daffodils on the northside

I'm going to go ahead and decide that spring is here, with all of my plants waking up throughout the gardens.

chives

We've got chives, green onions and catnip coming back along the path to the goat barn, and a lot of the trees and bushes we planted last year are budding. Won't this spring be a glorious one!

catnip

The classes this past weekend were a big success, even if we only had three folks show for the chicken class. It was still great fun, and a little more personal as we all got to know one another a little better. There was a nice couple from Pueblo and another fellow from the Greenhorn Valley who also came to the Season Extension class on Sunday with his wife. Interesting people, all of the participants. I really enjoy hearing everyone's story and why they are interested in our sustainability classes. Turns out we all have a lot in common when we think about the future of America.

On Sunday, Richard and his class got the hoop house up over the newly planted potatoes in the lower garden and possible future home of a USDA funded high tunnel.

They bent the conduit pipes for the frame on the small hoop bender Richard built.

pipe bender (hey, there's another one of those pesky pallets)

 And, with all those hands to hold that plastic, the breeze was hardly noticeable.

long hoop house

Here's a really easy and functional cold frame Richard built out of two by sixes and an old storm window from our Victorian house in the Springs.

Three pregnant goats, Cinnamon in the middle

Things don't have to be expensive or complicated to get the job done.

Cinnamon still has not given birth...so we wait...and we wait.

Gates across the driveway

One of the best parts of the weekend was getting the gates across the driveway. Finally. I've been waiting a long time for those gates that will keep people from just driving in (selling meat from a freezer?) and will keep my kids and animals from running out into the road that people drive down like a race track.

We also had dinner with some new friends this past weekend, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, talking and talking well past the kids' bedtime as they ran from one end of the house to the other. Luckily, our guests were not frightened away.

I had a moment, while trying to get the kids to nap during Richard's class, to watch a documentary on the Amish, which was fascinating. They are a people not much different from myself, minus the religion. They want to live sustainably and avoid the trappings of the mainstream society that would drag them into the chaos and lesson their quality of life. And, they'd like to protect their children from a culture that is ego based and competitive to the point of self-destruction. I'd like that too. The Amish believe in work and the enjoyment of choosing a life dedicated to family and community, living simply and giving themselves an opportunity to be close to nature and God.

With the upcoming energy crisis, I have to wonder if the Amish ways are not better ways. I find myself looking into more of the pieces of their culture and realize the rewards of abandoning the use of electricity for manual labor. I'm very interested in finding a functioning Singer Treadle sewing machine to replace my worn out electric machine. Wouldn't that put some joy into making clothes and quilts for the kids? I would find joy in learning to use and maintain an antique machine that proved itself capable of withstanding the changes of modern man, to the point where it becomes useful again. The items that we need to stock our homes with to survive the future are the things the Amish have been using all along. We could learn a thing or two.

And, Amish are about humility and fighting the Ego, something I have personally been trying to overcome in my own life. Ego is the killer. Just think of a life, a simple and sweet, natural life without that troublesome Ego messing everything up. Wonderful. I wonder if the Amish give workshops? Classes? "How to live Ego free in a mad society." "How to restore a hundred year old sewing machine." "How to teach your kids the value of life and educate them without the use of Disney characters." Sign me up!