A Little Slice of Paradise

I think of Shipshewana, Indiana, as a horse lover's paradise.

There are miles of beautiful Amish farms in Indiana near Shipshewana, Middlebury, Topeka, and all the way down to Napanee. If you enjoy gorgeous vistas of lush green pastures and farm fields, graced with sprawling farmsteads of white houses and barns edged with brilliant flowerbeds, this is your destination. 

There are more horses and ponies per square mile in this area than I have found anywhere in my lifetime. 

I have visited Holmes County, Ohio, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as well as Davis County, Indiana, and Arthur, Illinois. All of these areas are excellent destinations. In fact, any Amish community in America or Canada will have very similar sights. However, my favorite is the Shipshewana area. 

My Little Slice of Paradise

My wife and I spent some time in Shipshewana the first few days of August. I took these photos as we toured the sideroads. I have been looking to buy a team ever since I lost my best horse.

I kept saying to my wife, "Look at all of these Belgian draft horses! Those are exactly what I'm looking for." Every farm had at least 10 of these beautiful creatures. I told her, "I just want two." 

Before I fell asleep on August 3rd, I was lying there thinking that there may be a way I could buy a team here and haul them to Iowa. I said, "Lord, I'm praying for just the right team of horses. If there's a way to purchase some of these Indiana Belgians, help me ."

We got up on August 4th and drove towards home through Topeka and Millersburg, enjoying the views of "Amish Horse Paradise." I didn't have any inspired ideas about how to purchase a team.

I knew that there was a special workhorse sale in my hometown of Kalona, Iowa, on August 5th. 

All I could do was hope to find a similar team of horses, and I didn't have long to wait. 

The horse sale starts at 9:00 am. Before the sale, sellers harness and hitch their horses and ponies and drive them through an arena in a merry-go-round fashion. A team caught my eye immediately. I said to myself, "There's the style I'm dreaming of."

An Amish man about my age was hitching this team to a cart, and I approached him. "How old are these mares?"

"They are both four."

I asked, "Where are you from?"

"Millersburg, Indiana, near Topeka."

I couldn't believe my ears. "I was just there yesterday," I said. 

He told me that he hadn't planned on bringing horses to Iowa, but a neighbor stopped in a couple of nights ago and said he was hiring a driver to take some horses to a sale in Iowa. "There would be room in the trailer if you want to join me."

It seems like more than a coincidence to me. I choose to believe these horses were an answer to my prayer.

By the end of the day, I had a team of Belgians, my personal slice of horse paradise imported from Indiana.

Honey and Bella

Horse Eclipse

 Creation never ceases to fill my heart with awe.

This photo was shot after a thunderstorm passed over our acreage. The sky lit up with more than a rainbow; gleaming light shot out like the spokes of a huge wheel.

After further research, I discovered this phenomenon is created through perspective. Just as when you stand on a road, it seems huge underfoot but narrows as the road disappears into the horizon. 

These light beams are straight lines of light narrowing as they disappear into the horizon. 

Cool huh?

Solar and lunar eclipses are another phenom of creation. The size of the sun, earth, and moon are vastly different, yet all three appear almost identical during an eclipse. This is because of perspective as well.

This is by design. The chances of this occurring "accidentally" are astronomical. 

I started noticing my horses form an eclipse of their own. Karla is a smaller horse and like the moon, she often eclipses Mushka ( bright as the sun) as they graze. 

My grandchildren love these horses, and don't mind that Grandpa has an unmatched team. 

In fact, when I had a matched team they struggled to remember which horse was which. 

There is no identity confusion with this salt and pepper team. 

Notice how Karla is eclipsing Mushka.

Even in harness, there is an eclipse.

I hope you enjoy my concept of a Horse Eclipse. 

Horses are just one part of creation that awes my soul. My draft horses are so huge and yet so gentle. You can credit a million years of natural selection or acknowledge the kindness of a creator designing some creatures to be people-friendly. Both concepts take a great deal of faith. 

I choose to thank my Creator. 

Our New Home

A pile of lumber arrived on Labor Day of 2022. I was surprised Menards delivered on a holiday. Our construction crew began working on our new home the next week, and we moved in on our 42nd anniversary in January 2023.

I tossed in a photo of the project midway. Zook Builders were our contractors. We couldn't have been any more pleased with their work. They are in much demand in our Mennonite community, and we were super happy they agreed to take on our project. 

In the photo above, notice our old farmhouse with new construction only a few feet away. The old farmhouse was already standing when my wife's grandparents got married and moved here in 1916.

We bought this Amish-built bed from Midwest Woodworks, an Amish furniture store west of Kalona. The mattress is from an Amish-owned business in Indiana and is hand-stitched, almost like a quilt. As you can see, our little ornery dog, Wesley, thinks we built the home for him, and we merely stay here as his servants.

We took these pictures the day we moved in. We've had a chance to add a little decor to improve the ambiance since. If you want to see our Amish-built hickory cabinets a little closer, check out the builder's website.

Heritage-Kitchens_Amish-Made_Kalona-IA_

We feel quite at home here already. My wife and I have been talking about adding some cedar shudders to match the cedar posts. Notice the old windmill hovering over the house. My in-laws were still using the windmill to power their well until shortly before they moved to town in 2000. 

Our hickory theme spilled over onto the front porch with this bent-hickory porch swing and glider. You might notice our bar stools in the kitchen are also Amish-made bent-hickory.

Hickory rocking chairs are a long-standing Amish/Mennonite tradition. We have two in our home. One is a family heirloom from my wife's Mennonite family. The other rocker was a wedding gift from my parents. We sat in a set of these rockers for our wedding ceremony. 

Here is a link to a blog I wrote about our Amish-built, 20-foot-long table.

Amish Built Table

Our "finish carpenter" drove a buggy from his home to ours. He tied his horse in our barn. You can see my horses in the background eyeing the buggy. They seemed to enjoy having a horse visitor trot into the lane. 

Coincidentally, our Amish carpenter grew up in the home where my wife's great-grandpa and grandma raised her grandma Katie. The same grandmother who moved to this place in 1916. 

Here's our wedding photo. We headed to the Amana Colonies after our wedding. As you might know, I write Amish fiction, but my latest novel has an Amana Colony setting.

Novels by Thomas Nye

Remain True

Remain True: Amana-

The newest by author Thomas Nye.

Remain True was released on January 31, 2023

Leaving behind the crowds of Chicago and a failed relationship, author Timothy Hayes enters the Amana Colonies hoping to escape reality and find inspiration for a novel. Smalltown Iowa proves an epic failure with social distancing. Social awkwardness, however, is at an all-time high as a host of quirky neighbors crowd Tim's personal space. A beautiful photograph of an Amana woman becomes an inspiration for his writing. As he gazes into her eyes she seems to stir and come to life. Past and present collide when Elise steps out of the photograph and into Tim's life. What part of reality will Remain True? 

 Order today on Amazon: Remain True: Amana

Or, order a signed copy directly through Thomas Nye: How to order a book

(Copies ordered through Thomas Nye will be delayed until a book shipment comes in on or around February 16th) IF you can't wait to read Remain True: Amana - order through Amazon and it will arrive in a couple of days! 

Winter's Short Days

 
Winter in the Midwest can be brutal. Amish families endure the elements in a way most modern Americans don't have to. Can you imagine hitching up a horse after dark on a cold winter's night just to go to your children's school function? How about when the temperatures are below zero, there is ice on the road, and you have no heater or defroster in your vehicle. Don't forget there won't be electricity in the barn or any turning on the lights quickly so you can see what you're doing while you hitch up the horse.

Horses, however, are tough creatures. They, like buffalo, can calmly nibble at grasses on a snowy field when the temperature is below zero. They willingly pull a buggy through a curtain of snow. The picture above was snapped during a moment when the wind chill was negative 20 degrees. If you pass a row of buggy horses waiting at the hitching rack they all have a nice warm blanket wrapped around them. No kidding, Amish folks are quite devoted to their horses' well-being. 

Amish Children find fun games to play outside during cold weather. This hand-held game connects the players, unlike most hand-held devices children are connected to these days.

My wife and I enjoyed some hand-held outdoor fun a few weeks ago as we walked from shop to shop in the Amana Colonies to complete our Christmas shopping.

Winter days are short but the season can seem long while we wait for spring to bring new life to our fields and gardens. May I suggest a great pastime for those long winter evenings by the fire?

Why not curl up with a good book and a hot cup of something delicious to drink.

Here are some links to learn more about my Amish novels:

Books by Thomas Nye

Thomas Nye on Amazon

Barnes & Noble Thomas Nye page

Amish Church/ Autumn

A perfect fall day for Amish Church.

My wife and I were on our way to our non-denominational church for Sunday services when we passed this picturesque Amish farm. Their service had already started and the farm appeared quiet and still. There were horses standing tied in a long line with their tails swinging.

The horses can almost be seen in this pic. They were close to the white shed, which happens to be where the Amish church service was being held. If a person listened carefully, you could hear the slow, scooping Amish-style singing filling the air.

Slow-moving vehicle signs seemed to match the autumn leaves perfectly.

 Here is another angle of the iconic Amish farm dressed in Sunday's best autumn attire.

This scene reminded me of a chapter in English River: Book III of my Amish Horses Series. In this novel, Lenny and Leah, attend a fall wedding on an Amish farm. The bride's dress matched the leaves. Amish do not use white material for a dress, including wedding dresses.

If you are ever visiting an Amish community on a Sunday morning. Drive along the country roads until you see a yard full of buggies. It is a delightful surprise.

Seven Villages

Once upon a time, a group of people with strong religious convictions left their homeland of Germany and transplanted themselves onto American soil.

They first began a community in New York state and later purchased a large tract of land in central Iowa. They surrendered themselves to a communal lifestyle and shared all their worldly goods. Families stayed intact, but they shared large communal homes and dining halls. 

Pictured on the left is the smokestack of the Amana Woolen Mill. The stream is manmade, designed to power the mill and as an avenue to float goods through the center of Amana's 26,000-acre farm. The Amana Society constructed six villages and later purchased the nearby hamlet of Homestead, Ia. Nowadays, seven beautiful villages are standing as relics of bygone days. There are numerous shops, restaurants, wineries, handcrafted furniture venues, butcher shops, museums, and more.

My middle daughter and I love the "family style" breakfast served in Amana restaurants. Grandson Parker slept right through the meal, but I'm pretty sure his day of feasting with Grandpa is coming soon.

My grandparents took my mother and father to the Amana Colonies for a family-style meal on their wedding day in June 1951, and my wife and I honeymooned here in January 1981.

There are many amazing sights, scents, and tastes in the colonies. 

Many large homes, dining halls, churches, and factories were constructed of sandstone, brick, and wood. They are beautiful in structure and create a lovely ambiance. (I enjoy riding my bicycle throughout the seven colonies. Pictured above.)

These seven villages have been an integral part of my life here in Iowa. My love of Early American History draws my heart to Amish farms and the Amana Colonies. Those sentiments are the inspiration for my Amish novels and soon-to-be-released Amana novel.

(Above) I'm standing in front of the Amana church in a village called "Main Amana." If you are ever passing through Iowa on Interstate 80, take a break, stretch your legs with a scenic walk, sit down to a scrumptious meal, and enjoy browsing through a few shops. You will want to make this the destination instead of a stopping point on your next vacation. 

I'll keep you posted as my Amana novel nears publication.

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