Friends Forever

My granddaughters and my Amish horses have been friends for years.

Lyla and Kinley have built a long-lasting bond with Karma and Karla even though they live several states apart. Whenever these girls are in Iowa they run out to the barn to see their besties. 

Karma came to our acreage 14 years ago. Lyla is 10. She doesn't remember a time when Karma wasn't part of her life.

Karla and Kinley have also "claimed" each other. There is never an issue about who will hang out with whom. Their friendships are rock solid.

If you scroll down you will see pictures from many years ago. Including a photoshoot for a book cover.

Nevermind that these horses outweigh my granddaughters by almost 1800 pounds. These little girls have never shown any fear. 

Of course, they have nothing to fear because Karma and Karla dearly love them and would never do anything to harm them. I realize that accidents can and do happen. However, I am convinced that these 19 and 20-year-old mares are about as harmless as a pair of Black Labradors. 

I've witnessed Karla step carefully aside to allow a tiny kitten safe passage. She would do all the more to keep Kinely safe. 

We have lots of fun when our out-of-state friends get together.

We go for rides in the wagon and on horseback. 


  

Lyla and Kinley look so tiny seated upon their draft horse friends during this photo-shoot.

The picture below preceded my novella Whispering to Horses and inspired the little Amish girls in the book. After looking at this photo I came up with the idea to put Lyla and Kinley in Amish dresses and do a cover shoot.  

Whispering to Horses is available as an eBook through Barnes and Noble and on Amazon for $2.99

Click on this link: Whispering to Horses

Also as a paperback through Amazon or directly through me: Order a Book

Amish Ice Hockey

Last Monday, March 4th, I drove to Kalona, heading to the horse sale. Kalona Sale Barn has a horse sale on the first Monday of every month.

My 10-mile drive to town takes me through as many miles of Amish-farm country. I passed by several Amish schools and noted that the children were all having fun with an outdoor recess. Keep in mind, the temps were in single digits and there happen to be a cold wind.

These Amish children were blessed with a naturally formed hockey rink. Our Iowa winter has been brutal this year, with lots of freezing rain followed by extremely cold temps. When life gives you lemons... make lemonade! When winter gives you icy fields... play ice hockey!
Amish children love to sled and ice skate. The temperature doesn't seem to keep them inside. The other morning, I passed by an Amish farm on my way to work at 7:00 am and noticed some Amish boys getting in a little sledding before they had to head to school.

I'll share a picture taken at the horse sale. These teenage Amish girls seemed to be enjoying a relaxing afternoon watching horses pass through the sale-ring. Amish children only go to school through 8th grade.

Tiny Amish Clothes

Amish children are born into a culture within a culture.

Think about it. If I told you about a person, who grew up in a time where his family farmed with horses and used a buggy for transportation. This individual grew up without electricity, an automobile, television, radio, air-conditioner, or even a fan, what time in American history would you think of?

These children don't even learn to speak English until they are five.

We have a particular image in our mind, of modern American children. Yet, these are children born in America in the postmodern era. That very word means: subsequent to or coming later than that which is modern.


These children live in a time when being modern is not new, yet, they are still growing up in a very old-fashion way.

I try to guess how Amish parents explain to their children what is going on around them.

Why do so many people drive by with cars? Why do they dress that way and have tattoos?

Amish children look so cute in their tiny Amish clothes. They also seem so innocent and protected from the sex, drugs, and violence other children hear about in songs and see on TV and the internet.

I personally know many Amish children. When I visit neighbors, their children gather around and listen as the adults have a conversation. I'm always careful about topics because I know how hard my friends work to keep their children protected from outside influence. They are incredibly selective about what their children read. Many do not even want their children to know about animal reproduction, which is a difficult thing to avoid when I stop to talk about horses and colts.

Many Amish adults have read my books. (Which happen to fit in the category of G rated.) Yet, my Amish friends have been upfront about letting me know they don't want children under the age of 18 reading them. They don't like younger people to read anything with romance in them. In the Amish Horses Series there are only a few mentions of a kiss... just a few too many for their liking. There are also discussions about the bloodlines of individual horses. In my Amish community that is outside of the boundaries of "Good reading material" for children or even young teens. Other Amish communities would be less strict, but not much less.

If you visit an Amish farm, please try to be careful about topics. The Amish have something amazing going with their children. If you know any Amish children you know what I'm talking about. Polite, respectful, and hardworking children are hard to find in the postmodern era. Let's do our part to keep this going.

Amish Built

My wife's dream came true! Shari has been longing for a table big enough that our whole family can gather around it. We recently hired an Amish woodworker to build this Maple table. Shady View Woodworks. That is our son, Dallas, you see in the picture. 

It's as smooth as silk, and as you can see, it extends out quite a long way. 20 feet to be exact. Our family ate Christmas dinner around it a few weeks back and still had 5 table leaves left out. We have 5 children, 4 sons-in-law, and only 2 couples have given us grandchildren. So, we are thinking we may need the other 5 table leaves at some point. LOL

We also had these Maple church benches made at the same time. The legs fold up so they can be stored if necessary.

Amish church benches are usually made of pine which is much lighter to lift and move. And, folding legs make them easier to be loaded in a church-bench wagon and moved from house to house for meetings.

The craftsman happens to be the son of my Amish friend who sold Karma and Karla to me. I'm sure he has driven my horses on a manure spreader many times.

When we moved the table to our house, the carpenter's four young sons came along to help. They seemed quite excited about the trip... even though we are only a few miles from their house.
Their names are, Junior, James, Jacob, and Joseph, ranging in age from about 12 to 6 years, I would guess.



All four were super polite and hard workers. (What I've come to expect from Amish children, and I've yet to be disappointed.)
They really seemed to enjoy looking at my wife's Christmas village and our Christmas tree. Those are things Amish families wouldn't usually have in their homes.

When we finished setting up the table, the boys wanted to go out to my barn and check on their grandpa's old horses, Karma and Karla.
Whenever I drive past Shady View Woodworks, Junior, James, Jacob, Joseph, and their other 6 siblings wave at me. (They are usually riding ponies!)

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

Amish Women

Amish Women are an impressive lot.

On my Monday morning drive into work, I pass by a number of Amish farms. Quite often, I see a frozen clothesline hanging full by 7:00 am. Do you know what that means? They have been up washing clothes with a wringer washer, that is no easy job, and have already gone outside in freezing temperatures and pinned clothes on the line.

Meanwhile, they no doubt hurried back inside to set breakfast on the table before everyone comes back in from chores. I may mention that they very likely did all of this with a few toddlers around their feet and one on the way. Later in the day, clothes frozen stiff and looking like colored boards, come back in the house and thaw out enough to be folded and put away.

True, they do have help from older daughters, which is also a testament to their impressive nature. If you have raised any children of your own, you know how hard it is to keep adolescents and teenagers on task. The Amish women I know have well-ordered homes with polite children. One Amish family that I am good friends with have 9 children and the oldest is eleven-years-old. About 7 of them gather around my pickup truck whenever I pull into their drive and stand in a circle around me listening to what their dad and I have to say. If Dad isn't around, the oldest child present usually does the talking. If that older child goes to find Dad for me, the next oldest takes over telling me stories about interesting things that happened on the farm since I was last there. If Mom steps outside, she usually speaks something in dutch and one of the children runs to accomplish whatever mission she called on them to do. Probably running inside to bring out the produce she knows I'm there to pick up.

The other day I was driving home from Kalona and passed several buggies with women driving. I turned onto a gravel road and saw an Amish farmyard littered with buggies. Women of all ages were loading children into buggies and leaving a gathering of some kind. It would be safe to guess that it was a quilting. Nevermind the freezing temperatures and snow covered roads. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that these are some pretty tough mamas.

Pony Progress Days

"Horse Progress Days" is a two day Amish organized event, featuring anything related to farming with draft horses. Every year, around the 4th of July, Amish from all over the U.S. and Canada gather near an Amish community and trade ideas and merchandise, all horse related. One of my favorite parts is the pony parade. Each morning, local Amish children drive their ponies to the event. They line up and parade them in front of a large crowd of onlookers. I can't imagine any event where 50, or so, ponies can be driven into one arena by children and not have a disaster. These children have been riding in horse-drawn vehicles since the day they were born. They've grown up watching Dad and Mom handle horses in almost every situation imaginable, and have learned how to do the same.

Do you notice how calm all the children seem to be?

Amish children seem to be like all children were years ago. I have a theory that goes like this: Children used to want to be adults, they tried hard to act grown up and strove to be like their dad, mom, older brother, or sister. Nowadays, our culture glamorizes youth. Even old ladies try to look like teenage girls. Why would we expect our children to want to grow up when many adults don't act grown up. We don't give honor to the aged like we should, instead we idolize immature singers, actors and athletes. Okay, maybe I've said too much, but all you have to do is go to one of these events and you will be wondering where the rest of us went wrong. 

As you can see, most of the carts or wagons have a group of passengers. These children were all very quiet and well behaved, to the point where it is stunning! They are smiling and having fun, yet they don't feel compelled to fight with each other or throw fits and temper-tantrums. I mentioned how well behaved the children were, to my Amish friend, and he humbly said, "Our children are children too, they have their moments." Well, if they do, they sure don't have them in public like most modern children do.

This tiny pony above started to act up just before I took this picture. He reared up several times and tossed his head. The little man driving didn't panic. He talked calmly to his pony and brought everything back under control. His little female passenger sat quietly without fear. They sure do have a cute load on behind. It looks like a miniature horse-shoeing-stocks with a horse loaded in waiting to have new shoes put on.

In this picture above, you can see the line of ponies and children waiting their turn to enter the arena. I wish my picture was a little more clear, but I can see about 25 ponies and carts in this photo alone.

More ponies and children wait their turn.

This photo above is from last year's pony parade.

 
The photo below, is one of my favorite pictures I've taken yet. These little Amish girls were walking a pony foal around like a puppy. I named this post, "Pony Progress Days" because these Amish children are making progress with their ponies, while the rest of the world seems to be falling apart.

Amish Church

I recently had the opportunity to visit Amish church. Early in the morning we climbed into a buggy and set off down quiet country roads.


My Amish friend has a young family. He and his wife visited in the front while his little sons stood near my feet in the back and we watched their horse trot and beautiful scenery pass by.




These horses (pictured below) had the day off and enjoyed the pleasures of a mutual back scratching.

 If you ever visit an Amish church, prepare yourself for a peaceful treat. I will warn you in advance to quiet yourself and be ready to sit still for several hours. You can do it, their children do! Four part harmonies are sung very slowly. No, I mean slower than you can imagine if you have not been to an Amish service before. Let the sounds seep into your soul. Bible reading will be in German. Preaching will be in Pennsylvania Dutch. I happen to understand just enough Dutch to almost guess what was being said during both sermons. At one point the minister was moved to tears and even the small part I understood moved me to tears as well.

Men sit on one side, women on the other. Elders were facing us from a bench up front on one side. In front of the women, a row of little girls around 10 were facing us. I couldn't help but notice the little girl nearest the ministers. She sat quietly through both sermons and listened intently, watching the speaker with an angelic face. I couldn't and wouldn't take a picture, but when I got home I drew a sketch of the moment to help me remember it. Oh yes, and another wonderful treat, lunch after the service. My favorite part is the amazingly sweet, creamy, Amish peanut butter on homemade bread.

This is a shortened version of my experience with Amish church. If you want to really experience life on an Amish farm consider reading one of my novels. Amazon Link

Spring Ride

 On my way home from Kalona the other day, I came up behind this Amish daddy, little boy, and little girl, out for a spring ride.

I always enjoy it when I have to slow down to "buggy speed" as a horse crests a hill. Not being able to pass, all I could do was enjoy watching this peaceful moment. This little "Sunday School" house was on my left, so I snapped a pic of that as well.

When I passed this family they all smiled and waived at me.

 Just beyond that hill, I came upon this lovely scene. Amish farms and an Amish school-house. (My horses, Coke and Karm, were born on the farm right above the school.) As I drew near the school I took this next photo of all the horses and ponies tied outside, waiting for their small owners to finish classes and take a peaceful spring drive back home.

 A few minutes later, I was pulling into my own drive, Karm and Coke were grazing out front.

The trees near our house are decked out in their spring bloom.