Dreaming of Spring

 Spring is my favorite time of year. The whole world is resurrected with a burst of new life after laying dormant through long winter months.

When spring arrives little Amish girls will run and play barefoot in Mommy's garden, pick raspberries and climb fences.

In Pennsylvania, little Amish girls don't wear coverings but usually have tight braids wound in coils behind their ears or tied together at the base of their neck.

Over the rest of Amish America, girls wear coverings from infancy. When working or playing on the farm they are often seen with headscarves. Don't rule out the possibility of seeing a little Amish girl with braids running around the yard. But rest assured, Mommy will tie on a scarf or pin on a covering before they leave the lane to go somewhere.

 These little girls are searching Grandma's raspberry bush for early fruit and helping themselves to a snack.

Just looking at these pics, taken two springs ago, makes me start dreaming of spring, again.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, garden tea, bees buzzing, baby lambs, and even dandelions seem welcome at this point.

(By the way, these are pictures of my own granddaughters, Lyla and Kinley, and were photographed with permission from their mommy) They were in these Amish made dresses for the purpose of a cover photo. If you want to see the finished product of the photo shoot, click on the link below.

Cover Photo Link

The Stolen Cowboy Hat

I recently spoke to a group of children at Washington Township Elementary School.

The children were super well behaved and I really enjoyed reading part of Catbird Singing to them. I read a story about a little Amish girl that rides her pony into a house.

I will share the video of me reading the same story to Karm and Coke. (my horses)

I also wrote a very short story for the event, titled The Stolen Cowboy Hat. 

The Stolen Cowboy Hat

  A few years ago there was a boy named Dallas in 2nd grade at Washington Township. This boy wanted a cowboy hat more than anything in the world. Not the kind of cowboy hat you may be thinking of but a Dallas Cowboys stocking hat. You see, he thought it would be really nice to have a hat that said, “Dallas,” on it and he liked the Cowboys. His mother said, “I saw them at the store and they are very expensive. You don’t take care of your hats, you always lose them. I don’t think should buy you an expensive hat.”
Dallas was really disappointed, that is until Christmas. He opened up a gift from his mother and was surprised that she had bought him a stocking hat with big bold letters that said, Dallas Cowboys. He quickly tried it on and it was a little big. Mom said, “Let me see that. Oh dear, I should take that back and get a medium instead of a large.” But Dallas put it back on and smiled. “I love it, just like it is!”
Dallas wore it around the house during Christmas break. One day Dallas’ brother, who was in the 5th grade, had one of his friends over. His brother's friend, named Eddie, was a big bully and he teased Dallas. “What’s a little kid like you doing with a big hat like that? Do you even know anything about the Cowboys?”
“I love the Cowboys, and besides my name is Dallas.”
“I oughta take that hat.” Eddie the bully said.
When Christmas break was over, Dallas was really excited to go back to school so he could wear his new hat. But, he couldn’t find it. He searched his room and the hall closet. He couldn’t believe he had already lost it. He didn’t dare ask his mom to help him find it because he didn’t want her to know that he had already lost his expensive hat. His mom called, “Dallas, hurry up the bus is here!” Dallas pulled his hood up over his head so his mother wouldn’t see that he wasn’t wearing his new hat, and ran out to the bus.
All he could think about all day was his lost hat. When he went out to recess he could see his brother and the 5th graders playing on the big kid’s playground. He thought he saw that bully Eddie was wearing a brand-new Cowboys hat. When the teacher blew the whistle and everyone lined up to go back inside, he saw Eddie up close and it was true, he was wearing a hat exactly like the one Dallas lost.
All during class Dallas kept thinking about his hat, and he remembered hearing Eddie say, “I ought to take that hat.” He was just sure Eddie stole it. During the afternoon, Dallas asked the teacher if he could walk down the hall to visit the boy’s bathroom. On his way past the 5th-grade room, he noticed a Cowboys hat hanging on the coat rack outside of the class. He took it off the hook and looked at the size. It was a large just like the one his mom bought him. He said to himself, “This is my hat, Eddie stole it!” Dallas decided to take his hat back, and on his way to the 2nd-grade classroom, he hid it in his own coat pocket.
After school, when the bus stopped in front of his house, Dallas took his new hat out of his coat pocket and proudly wore it inside. He walked past his mother slowly, so she would see that he was wearing his new hat. She handed him a bag and said, “Here, I took your new hat and exchanged it for a medium!” Dallas took the bag and looked at his mother with wide eyes, and she gave him the same look. “Where did that hat come from?” She asked.
“I thought it was mine,” Dallas said.
“You didn’t answer me, I asked where did you get it?”
“At school,” Dallas answered.
“So, you took someone else’s hat?” Mom asked.
“I thought Eddie stole mine.”
“I see, so you stole it back? Get your coat, we are going over to Eddie’s to return his hat.” When they got to Eddie’s house Dallas asked Mom, “Would you come with me, so Eddie doesn’t smack me across the head.”
“I’ll be right here watching,” She said. Dallas went to the door and knocked. Eddie opened the door and the two boys had a conversation. Eddie lifted his hand and then reached over and rubbed Dallas on the head. When he got back in the car Mom asked, “What happened?”
“I told him the whole story,” Dallas said.
“What did Eddie say?” Mom asked.
“Eddie said, ’Thanks for bringing it back, I was just trying to figure out how I was going to tell my mom that I lost my new hat!”

Here are a few of the letters I found in my mailbox, sent to me from the first-grade class. I loved them all but thought I'd better only try to share a few.

In the top left picture, you can see me lecturing the students and the round table that held my books. You can also see the poster I made that says, Beginning, Middle, End. That is was I taught about... being sure to give every story all three parts.

I will share a link to my Thomas Nye Facebook page, where you will find a video of my little speech. (It gets cut short because my iPad was running low in storage.) And you will find the video of the Pony Story. Just look through, "My Videos."

Author Thomas Nye on Facebook
Please "Like" (Thomas Nye) while you are there!