Late Fall

It's time to pick the last few rows of corn, clear off the garden and brace ourselves for an icy blast.

Early fall is bright and cheery with colorful leaves and pumpkins. Late fall has another type of beauty.

Iowa turns various shades of browns and tans during this season. Some call those "earth tones." There is a certain beauty in it.

Amish children romp and play outside in all weather.

Amish horses get a long break during winter months. There isn't as much fieldwork to do. Although, during winter months manure hauling gets into full swing.

With crops out of the fields, it's time to pour on nature's best fertilizer. Not to mention, the barn is full of livestock keeping warm and dry. That means more manure needs to be hauled out.

Amish like to quote this verse:

"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox." Proverbs 14:4

The idea is that life might seem simple if you don't have to clean out the barn. But, life is more productive if you are willing to put in the work.

Fall is also Pie Season! Pick up the last of the apples that fell because you couldn't reach the highest bow. If they are too bruised for pie, toss them to the hogs or horses.

What could be more pleasant than stepping out of blustery cold winds into a warm kitchen with pies sizzling in the oven? Cinnamon sugary filling oozing out of the edges and wafting out their perfect aroma.

Another pleasant treat is stepping inside a warm barn to be greeted by livestock. They nicker or bawl for their evening meal.

I do have two books with fall settings on the Amish farm. English River and a collection book titled Love's Thankful Heart.

English River is the third book in the Amish Horses Series but is full of fall scenes.

Love's Thankful Heart is a collection book. Laura V. Hilton, Rachel J. Good, and I collaborated, each writing a short story about Thanksgiving with an Amish setting.

If you are interested in reading these you can find them on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as eBooks and paperbacks. 

Here is the Amazon link: Thomas Nye on Amazon

Or, to order a paperback copy directly from me: Order a Book

The Rhythm of Life

        Stepping outside on a cool fall morning, you draw in a breath of soft farm air. Horses and cattle are stirring, waiting for someone to open the pasture gate or toss them a flake of hay. By this part of November, most birds have headed south for warmer nesting grounds. Those left behind are clamoring together in empty cornfields, pecking at kernels of corn missed by combines as they roared through the area. A gentle breeze and those remaining flocks take wing.

         The rhythms of life are ever present on an Amish farm. Autumn is the final stage of gathering in summer's produce before winter blows snowdrifts against barn doors and feed bunks. Grandpa still lives in a little house next door, even though Grandma passed away a few months ago. He rides along in the family buggy when everyone goes to a fall wedding. He smiles as the newly married couple stand for their vows, it only seems a few days ago he and Grandma had made that promise. Next spring life will blossom anew. Sheep will lay down in soft grasses next to baby lambs. Plowed fields will mellow and dirt clods break up as horses pull disc and harrow over the face of the earth. Tiny shoots of green will peek out to feel warm rays of sun after a refreshing drink of rain. Life goes on.

Amish Autumn

       During the next number of days, even birds seemed to be restless; change was happening everywhere. Small birds crowded into branches overhead, fluttering, chirping, and then took flight, bursting out through leaves in small groups. After the little flocks circled around, they came clamoring back into the same boughs they had just left. A full blown argument ensued in tree limbs above Lenny’s head. Part of the troubles seemed to be that whole flocks had moved in from more northern lands, crowding out those that had lived on Noey’s farm all summer. Lenny’s horses noticed the bird troubles too, shaking their manes at all the commotion.
 Around the same time birds began to be disturbed, soybean fields began to show yellow patches. Those lighter colored areas spread out further and further until everything turned a brilliant gold. Every breath of air drew crisp. Canada Geese flew back and forth across the sky in partially formed V’s, not always south, but in every direction. It was clear that it wasn’t time for them to leave, yet change was coming.
       Lenny sat behind a team of horses, with an unsettled feeling in his heart, watching the whole thing unfold before him. He told his horses, “Living the Amish lifestyle in autumn is a new experience for me, and winter sounds like a nightmare. Grandpa already told me how brisk weather affects horses, making you all flighty and frisky. Maybe Amish young men look forward to their horses being more lively and willing to move quickly without being coaxed, but for a guy like me it’s downright scary.”
       Lenny wondered out loud, “Why couldn’t summer last forever?”  Misty nodded her head up and down, possibly in an effort to stretch out driving lines that held her bit too tight. Lenny chose to see her head shaking as an agreement with his comment. “I was dreading fall. Now that I told Noey I would help with harvest and give him an answer before winter, I hope autumn lasts forever.” He clucked and his horses stepped off quickly. Lenny and his team finished feeding cattle. He tossed off hay as the horses circled through the herd.

You have been reading an excerpt from English River, Amish Horses Series book III

English River is an Autumn story. Let Lenny and his horses take you away... out into Amish farm fields during the harvest season.