Dude... where is my horse and buggy?!
I never thought the sight of a clothes lines, corn fields and bearded men with straw hats would excite me! This past weekend I had the opportunity to once again visit somewhere new to me; some place far from where this Oregon raised girl thought she would be.
What i knew about Pennsylvania and the Amish I learned from the movies. I'm not sure the movie Witness was the proper education. Crossing the state line my thoughts and eyes went to the changing color of the trees, not very different from the scenery in Georgia this time of year. It was just a simple rounding of a corner on a back road that made me sit up straighter in the seat of the truck.
For someone that likes to take pictures this spot was inspiring. Blue sky over corn fields with large white farm houses, corn silo's and of course the clothes line with black and white flapping in the breeze. It seems like parts of this place are in a time warp of sorts. It almost gives you a sense of overwhelming simplicity.
As the day passed the sites grew more fascinating, a hard ware store, a restaurant and general store. At each stop a line up of black buggy's with large horses seemingly content to see only what was in front of them. Stepping in to each place my first reaction ironically wasn't the people old and young working, it was the lighting. No electricity and gas lighting makes shopping interesting. Everyone i smiled at smiled back although no one really seemed to be walking around whistling while they were working they still seemed to be in a happy place.
I'm not sure what i was expecting, these days i have come to expect the unexpected. There was a bonus and blessing to my adventure and his name was John Lapp.
John is a 27 year old Amish man that helps out a senior friend around his property on the weekends. I am a firm believer in the phrase " you only get one chance to make a great first impression" and John Lapp nailed it! This was the Amish experience I was hungry for, a person to get close enough to and be able to ask all the questions no matter how silly they were. Poor John didn't know his Saturday was going to be intertwined with this sassy gal up from Atlanta!
Whether he was working on a project or sitting at the quaint kitchen table having cider and cookies I was there!
"So John why the Hat?" " Why can't you have a bicycle?" "Why is everyone worried that you 27 and not married?"
He answered with all the grace and manners he could muster in his German accent and finished every sentence with "Heck Ya"
It took me a little bit to understand what he was saying at the end and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know he does it. That is what made it all the more precious.
It would be impossible for me to put down in words today all that i learned from John that day but this i can tell you. Every where i go near or far i learn something new. Every grain of information to me is a treasure stored in my own mental silo...pulled from occasionally to remind me of how amazing life is.
I do plan on going back to visit my new friends and believe me this will not be the last of my harvesting knowledge and engaging those amazing people.
the bottom line is whether you wear a baseball cap or a cowboy hat or a straw hat we all still take it off and on the same way!
I put on my cap just like John, heck ya. But for some reason he is as intriguing to read about as he must have been to meet. What is it that sets him apart from myself besides a cool german accent and a sense of style that makes Icabob Crane look fashionable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it is that very fashion that sets he and I apart. Not because his lacks color or flare but because he doesn't need it. How often do you meet someone that doesn't ride a bike or use electricty and can't tell you why, and neither cares to explore why? All he needs to understand is that "we have our traditions".
To me it would be a wonderfully complicated way to live. NOt using personal energy to question, qualify, or reduce one's beliefs to measurement or time. Or, for that matter dive into modernity to find riches of enlighment. In other words, he believes, only because he believes. Funny, most of us can't even define what we believe in even after all of our questions are answered.
Also thoughts of John brings forth significant contradiction regarding consumption. I have often believed that I am someone who does not need a lot to get by. But compared to John Iam a one many junkyard. I consume without question and waste more in a decade that he will in a lifetime. Which is exactly why he captures my curiosity, because he is in stark contrast to everything we ________ (you fill in the blank) believe humans should be. I must be honest and say that the contrast is not brought on by epiphany. My consciencess was stirred by a straw of guilt.
Yet, John's decision to not fully isolate, not be married at the age of 27 and straddle the communities' fence suggests he is very curious about who we are. As a result, I hope Michelle continues to visit John as an ambassador of all the good people who wear hats other than those made of straw. Heck yeah!!
M