News that I missed, courtesy of The Babylon Bee:
SMICKSBURG, PA—Local Amish patriarch Ezekiel Yoder was seen smiling smugly as he rode his market wagon by an outsider’s gas station where the cost per gallon broke six dollars a gallon.
He calmed his horse and observed the chaos at the pump. People were ripping each other apart to throw away their money on high-priced fuel. Thank Gotte he was not like them!
Yoder cried out to those embroiled in the chaos. “Blowing at the smoke doesn’t help if the chimney is plugged!” he said, snorting divinely.
“Ah, it’s gut to be blessed, Baalam,” he said to his horse.
Witnesses at the gas station were deeply offended that a kind-hearted Amish man could be so passive-aggressive and consequently resolved to never become Amish. They were, however, unable to deny that their devotion to the almighty automobile had doomed their souls.
Go here to read the rest. I practiced law in Mattoon, Illinois from 1982-1985. There were a fair number of Amish in the area and I recall vividly one day seeing a horse and buggy parked close to my car in a parking lot. The Amish settlement around Arthur, Illinois was founded about 150 years ago and has around 4,000 Amish.
They also have very good local products in their grocery stores. We drive up from Louisville about once a year to stock up.
When we lived on the Naval. Air Test Center in Southern MD, there wasn’t much to do. My husband was in Test Pilot School and was either in class, studying or flying. So I’d put the boys in the car and explore the rural area. I became friends with an Amish family. One December Mrs Gideon Lee wanted to Christmas shop in Waldorf. Her oldest girl Salome stayed at farm to babysit my 9 month old and three 3 yr old. First stop was KMart to buy a toy rifle for 5 yo Albert and a poinsettia for her mother. Next stop was an independent grocery for a chuck roast for her mother (store bought beef a treat). Last stop was a Wonder Bread Thrift Store where she bought boxes and boxes of Twinkies. I had to smile because this woman baked wonderful bread $1 a loaf, dinner rolls $1 a pan, cinnamon rolls $1.25 in her wood burning stove and here she was buying Twinkies with a 2 year shelf life. When we returned to the farm my 3 year old told me how he rode in a buggy to a quilting bee with Mrs Yoder the grandmother. The baby stayed with 19 yo Salome at the quilting bee. The boys were exiled to play in the barn where they had a wonderful time. I found the Amish to be good, honest family people, Fast forward many years we now live in the peninsula across from St Mary’s MD. The Amish are buying farms with cash in the next county to ours Some of the locals resent the newcomers. There have been a few buggy – car collisions. Usually it’s the speedy pick up that’s at fault. Most of us .Ike to shop at Amish vegetable stands; buy their homemade cheeses; products from the sawmills.