Carjacked by an Amishman

        Imagine, you're a young mother, on your way home from work. As you drive down the quiet streets of a small town in Iowa, you are looking forward to a peaceful evening with your four children. There seems to be some kind of commotion on the street ahead. Cars are pulling over as an Amish buggy swerves out of control. You pull your mini-van over to the side of the road until things calm down.

        An Amishman pulls open your passenger door and jumps in. "Quick, go after that buggy!"

        My wife works in Iowa City. One of her co-workers lives in Kalona, a small town in Iowa with a large Amish population living nearby.

        Her co-worker told her this story of how she was carjacked by an Amishman. After he jumped into her car, he ordered her, "Go after that buggy!" She started after it without knowing what was happening. He encouraged her, "Go, Go, Go ... that's my horse, that's my buggy and nobody is in it!"

        My wife's co-worker asked, "What are we going to do?"
        "Pull your van around in front of my horse and he will stop!" She said that she argued with him. "Maybe your horse will crash into my van and not stop." There wasn't enough time to debate the subject. He insisted, "Pull over right now!" She complied with his demands and pulled in front of his runaway buggy-horse, and in fact, the horse did come to a stop, just as he had expected. He jumped out and quickly grabbed his horse. She headed on home to her family and the quite evening she had planned.

(I may have a few of the details wrong in this story... but it was pretty close.)

        If you have read my novels, you know that my writing is about the clashing of two worlds. Have you ever eaten a candy bar and intermittently sipped from a glass of sour lemonade? Well, I enjoy that contrast. Sour lemonade makes chocolate taste sweeter.

        I have had many experiences where two worlds clash; modern life contrasting the old-fashioned Amish world. I work in a college town (Iowa City, Iowa) I drive through those busy streets filled with scantily dressed students, every hand holds a cell-phone, earbuds pouring private music selections into each ear. One moment I'm at a busy intersection. (always one person with road-rage nearby) Fifteen minutes later, I'm driving down a quiet country road. Two little Amish boys wave at me as they pull a wagon with a container of milk they are delivering to a neighbor family. Teenage girls hoe between rows of garden produce singing hymns together. Sometimes I would rather just enjoy the chocolate and skip the lemonade. However, after a sip of lemonade, chocolate sure does taste sweet!

Life is interesting... you never know when you will get carjacked by an Amishman!

My Favorite Picture

 I was sitting in the parking lot of an Amish bakery shop eating an amazing doughnut while my wife picked up a few more items. This little Amish boy climbed out of the buggy parked beside our car and stood next to his family horse. He called to his brother who had walked over to the wash-line yonder.

Later when I looked at my phone to see the picture... the young guy seemed to disappear right before my eyes. At first I was really disappointed, because I was sure there was a boy in the picture, then all at once he appeared again. That is when I realized I had two pictures, one with a boy, one without.

If you are ever in the Kalona area, make sure to stop at the Golden Delight Bakery. I'm convinced they make the best doughnuts in the whole wide world! The bakery is located about a mile north of Kalona on a gravel road. Watch for the sign along highway 1 north of town.

Kalona Amish 1978

These pictures were taken in 1978.

A retired couple that lives on my mail route recently read my Amish novel. After reading it Jerry told me about these pictures he had taken in 1978 near Kalona.  I think his photography is great.

There were several things I noticed, such as the cars in the background, which look outdated.

 You may also notice that the Amish haven't changed much during that same time.  These pictures could have been taken this afternoon, minus the old cars.

The picture of corn shocks (below) reveals a change among Amish in Kalona.  I haven't seen any corn shocks in a really long time.  We still have a few families in our area that shock oats, but not corn.

Buggies, at first glance, look exactly the same in 2014 as they did in 1978.

I moved to the Kalona area in 1980 and have noticed changes in Amish buggies.  They now have headlights, which didn't exist in our community until only a few years ago.

Jerry took a number of other great pictures in 1978 but I am saving those for other blog posts.  Keep checking in on this blog and you will be blessed with many more great pictures!

If you see one you really like and want to purchase a print, Jerry said that he would be willing to accommodate that.  Simply email me at amishhorses@outlook.com and I will get you in touch with Jerry!

Horse and Buggy

 

Downtown Kalona, Iowa.

       There is something soothing about the sound of horses trotting down a road.  We lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a few years during the 80's and our closest neighbors were Old Order Mennonites, similar to Amish.  We lived on a little paved road in the country, our view was of a dairy farm's pasture with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background, I sure miss that!  Old Order Mennonites passed our house all day riding bikes or driving buggies. Our little 2 year old daughter (at that time) Bethany used to love to watch the horses go by.  When we did what parents do, and asked Bethany, "What does a horses say?" Her answer was to make a clucking sound with her tongue, mimicking the sound of horse hooves on the road.

  

  

       Here is a picture of our pony "Dusty" what a great family pony she was!  The girl driving is an Old Order Mennonite family friend, Lisa Dawn.  My own daughter, Lisa, is on the right, and my daughter Robyn is holding Lisa Dawn's little brother, Kevin.  You can see our great view in the background.  I bought this little cart at a garage sale and my Old Order Mennonite neighbor gave me this harness, I think he enjoyed seeing me and my children go past his place on this little cart.

Your's truly (it was the 80's) and my daughter Bethany on Dusty.

     My daughter Bethany was crazy about this pony, for some reason she wanted to lay back like this on Dusty for hours if I would let her, Dusty didn't mind as long as she was grazing.  You can see our Old Order neighbor's farm in the background, and beyond that the little town of Dayton, Virginia.  Beyond that is either Round Hill or Mole Hill, I forget which hill was which.  I have some great stories about this pony but I am saving those for a collection of short stories about all the horses I have owned.

My parents used to have a little Chihuahua that one of Mom's Amish students gave her. The little guy was a typical Chihuahua with bulging eyes and a raspy bark. Mom told me, "Do you know how to tell this is an Amish dog? Because he's hoarse and buggy."

Amish girl driving a buggy in Kalona, Iowa.

Amish family near Shipshewanna, Indiana.

Shiloh Farm

     My sister has a wonderful antique shop near Kalamazoo Michigan.  It so happens her shop is in a carriage house.  I really enjoyed looking in the horse stalls, posts still protruding from the walls for hanging harness and horse collars.
     Her main shop is in there area where the buggies and wagons used to be stored. When I walk in here I can imagine what it was like "back in the day."
     My sister, Twila also sells artwork, craft items and unique random artifacts her brother (me) Tom purchases at the semi-annual Draft Horse Sale at the Kalona Sale Barn.

     My sister's home and shop both are like a museum, taking you way back to the old days.  If you are ever in the Kalamazoo area you don't want to miss a chance to stop in.

     My sister had a very interesting visitor while I was there, a young woman who recently joined the Amish.  It is very rare for anyone not raised Amish to be able to make that transition.  This young woman was taken in by an Amish family and she seems to be adjusting very well.

     As soon as my book Under the Heavens comes out, my sister Twila plans to have copies for sale in her shop at Shiloh Farm.

     This house was built during the Civil War.  Twila has done an amazing job keeping everything original, yet comfortably updated!  I had a great visit at your place Sis, your a great hostess!

 Here is a link to my sisters Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ShilohFarmVintageARTiques

Road Apples and other signs your nearing Kalona

Road apples, a little nickname we Kalona people give to what horses leave behind.

Also known as buggy exhaust!

This is a good sign you are nearing Kalona.

The Cheese House, known to the locals as "The Cheese Factory"

famous for squeaky cheese curds!

A large variety of horse drawn vehicles.

This is a horse drawn sprayer. 

(vehicles like these leave road apples behind)

Signs along the road, reminding us to watch for horse drawn vehicles.

Dozens of signs advertising home grown products, almost exclusively Amish signs.

(My little time-machine S-10 pickup can be seen in this picture)

Just past the "rumble strips" you roll up to the "Four-Corners" 4 way stop.

From here you can see our famous, Puller Inn motel,

JW's grocery,

and English River Pellets.

Buggy Horses

Some standard-bred horses are born on Amish farms

          Almost all buggy horses come off the race track. In most major cities in the U.S., there is a horse-racing track. Thoroughbred horse racing, puts the rider on the horse's back, such as the Kentucky Derby style of racing. However, there are more tracks that specialize in Sulky racing. Standard-bred horses are used in harness to pull a little cart called a sulky, in this type of racing.

          These Standard-bred horses are bred up and trained to have a very quick trot. A trot is the best gate for pulling a sulky or a buggy for a long way as fast as possible. Race track horses usually have a very short racing life, after that has run-its-course, they are sold at auction and most end up on Amish farms. These horses often end up pulling buggies for years.

                                                                                

          My dad bought one of these horses at an auction, with intentions to use him as a riding horse.  Dad worked with him for a while but after Danny threw him one day, the horse was handed down to me. I worked hard to finish breaking him to ride, until I took a job on a local dairy farm and gave up all free time completely!  I put him in the paper, advertised as:  Standard-bred horse, for sale. I will trade for a riding horse.

                                                                                

                                 These horses are grazing on the playground of a one-room school                              

          I received a number of calls from local Amish. Twice, I visited Amish farms with prospective riding 

horses, as a possible trade. One of the families had a nice sized, riding pony. I enjoyed my visit to their farm; they were very friendly and showed me around a little. When it came to, wheeling and dealing, both Amish families let their sons do the talking.  These were boys about 12-14, and I was quite impressed with their knowledge, and that their dads gave them this kind of respect. The family with the riding pony encouraged me to take a ride, to see how I liked their pony.  I'm not that proud of my riding skills, so I suggested that one of the boys ride the horse, while I watched. The man of the house told one of the boys to get on. His face instantly looked pale, and he said, "No Dad, he bucks!" Needless to say that was a deal breaker, I went on my merry way. I sold Danny at the Kalona Sale Barn later, and he fetched a handsome price.

Under the Heavens, Amish Novel