Amish Casket Makers

Every Amish community has an abundance of carpenters who are excellent craftsmen. This Countyline Woodworking shop is just one example of what you will find, if you are visiting an Amish community. Ask any local person where the nearest woodworking shop is.





There are also casket makers in almost every Amish community, turning out beautiful handcrafted coffins. Usually, they are only making caskets according to need, not for business. I have found that they will usually be quite gracious about helping out strangers, if asked politely.

A few months ago we had a special meeting in Kalona sponsored by the Mennonite Historical Society. Local Amish leaders were invited to come and speak to the community about our shared heritage. Five Bishops and Preachers talked about Kalona Amish history and fielded questions the audience had about Amish practices. It was a fantastic experience!  I heard some really great stories; one about an Amish casket maker that I will share with you.

One elderly Amish man, who was speaking, told us of a relative that made caskets.  He said that in the old days it was the practice to cut a long straight stick the exact length of a deceased person.  This stick would be sent to the casket maker to be certain of a perfect coffin size.  This elderly Amish man explained that his uncle always kept all of those sticks in a corner of his shop, each with a named carved on it.
This is where the story gets good!

Amish graveyard north of Kalona

On the occasion of an unexpected death, a local Amish family went about the unpleasant duty of preparing a to send a stick to the casket maker. For whatever reason, they were not able to readily come up with a stick that was suitable, so, they cut a cornstalk the exact length. A young Amish boy was sent on a mule to deliver the measuring stick to the carpenter. When the boy was near his destination his mule decided it would be nice to have a snack, and took a bite off the cornstalk that happened to be within his reach.

The story had it, that the casket maker and the boy made the best guess they could, about how much stalk the mule might have bitten off.  No doubt the carpenter made the casket a little longer, rather than a little too short. These measuring sticks are still around in our community, but I don't think the cornstalk measuring stick survived.

This graveyard (pictured above) is near where the mule incident happened.

Horsepower in 2014

 The world has changed a lot in the past one-hundred years! In 1914 almost every farm in America was powered by horses, not tractors. At first glance these monster tractors look like a vast improvement over farming with horses, but are they?

Let's stop and go over the pro's and con's:
Tractors... one man can farm hundreds of acres alone. Horses... more people needed but that means more people with jobs.
Tractors... although they use expensive fuel, they don't need to be fed when not working. Horses... they have to be fed everyday but they can raise their own renewable, environmentally safe fuel.
Tractors... don't get sick and die. Horses... can reproduce their own replacements.
Tractors... don't have personality flaws. Horses... actually have a personality, many that you can fall in love with.
Tractors... will make you more dollars (True, that modern farmers spend more money on luxury items but almost all of them are strapped with a debt load their huge tractors can't pull them out of.)  Horses... will save you more dollars (Most Amish who farm with horses operate with zero debt.)
In the end, it is obvious that tractors are more convenient and make it possible to raise more food with less labor. If you ever visit an Amish farm, where they are using good old-fashion horsepower, you will find that with our "convenience" we have lost a lot of what makes life rich and meaningful.
What if, instead of one man farming a thousand acres alone, there were eight families working that same land. And those eight families helped each other daily in a close knit community. Welcome to the world of the Amish.

Does this fascinate you? Check out my novel, Under the Heavens, it will give you a chance to feel what it is like to spend a summer on one of these farms.

                 http://www.tinyurl.com/underheavens

A Christmas Poem

T'was Twelve or Maybe I T'was Eight

T'was the twelfth of December or maybe t'was the eighth

T'is my best Christmas memory, to recite in full length

Mom, Dad, my sisters and me, climbed in our pickup to go get a tree

We headed as a family to the outskirts of town

T'ward a farm where people could cut a holiday tree down
Dad refused to ask for directions, tho Ma begged him to that night

She clinched her teeth and smiled, saying, "Christmas is no time to fight!"

Dad said, "Not to worry, I know right where we are

See the twinkling light up yonder, honey, why that's the north star!"

We rode 'round for hours, like pickles in a jar

'Till Dad woke us up, with a surprised, "HERE WE ARE!"

T'was twelve o'clock midnight or maybe t'was eight

When we finally found the place and headed in through the gate

We passed a trailer-house-office and Christmas lights that read

"CUT YOUR OWN TREE" light bulbs spelled out and said

My mom and my sisters knew what kind they wanted

A symmetrical tree, and not one that was stunted

There t'was a hill before us that looked just like a face

Two stumps were eyes, and tall trees in the mouths place

Those pines on yonder hill, looked just like a smile

And caught Mom's attention, she told Dad, "That's the style!"

We gathered 'round that grin upon that hill

Ignoring snow and cold winters chill

Chopping and hacking with an ax and saw

We gnawed and we cut but that tree wouldn't fall

My sisters and I grabbed its branches in the middle

And walked in a circle and twisted it out like a thistle

T'was twelve below zero or maybe t'was eight

With a starry nightlight we hauled our tree to that gate

Dad roused a man from the office with a couple of raps and a knock

Who came stumbling down the steps and said, "Ya'll crazy, it's past one o'clock!"

Dad replied politely, "We want to pay for our twenty-four dollar tree."

The man snarled and told us, "The kind that ya'll cut down is one-hundred and three!"

"Did ya'll cut it out from the face of that hill

Or from the grove by the barn or the woods by the mill?"

Dad looked at the hill with a tooth missing grin

And then at us kids whom he'd taught,"lying t'is a sin"

He took out his wallet and gave the man every last dollar

Though he normally pinched bills 'til we heard Washington holler

The man with a sweat-shirt that didn't quite cover his belly

Must 'of seen my sisters shivering in the night that was chilly

He gave us hot cocoa that stung my throat, tongue and nose

With a similar stinging, Jack Frost had done to my fingers and toes

However, I liked the stinging the cocoa did better

Except that sister punched me when I spit it out on her sweater

So, don't get upset if  holiday plans don't work out quite right

My family's worst Christmas t'is my best memory by far

As Mom told us through clinched teeth, while following yonder star

And shared her wisdom on that cold winter night

"Christmas, my children, is no time to fight!"

The Shire (what Hobbits and Amish have in common)

Is there a secret old-fashion world, hidden within our modern fast paced society?

Horses, harness, wooden-wheel wagons, buggies and carts, all items from days-gone-by.  That is unless your Amish, then these things are part of everyday life, and necessities.

Most Americans are high tech, living in the electronic age.  Yet, there are quiet Amish communities thriving in our own backyard.

       These Amish communities remind me of J.R.R. Tolkien's description of Hobbits in the Shire. Quiet people who enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Peace loving and rather shy. What I love the most about the Amish, is that they are not seeking attention but rather, avoiding it! Bilbo and Frodo are more pure than their contemporaries, because of their simple lifestyle. Amish, for the most part, have avoided much of what corrupts our society by staying away from worldly media. A lesson we all should receive from their simple, yet proven wisdom.

            Visit the Amish Horses Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses

Amish Woodworking Store

       This past summer I took my family to the Wisconsin Dells area for some family togetherness time.  They know that "their old dad" stops at any nearby Amish community to look around and this trip was no exception.

       We came upon this, County Line Woodworking, near Loganville, Wisconsin. We loved the place and bought several items that fit in our budget and our Impala.

       My son and daughter sat with me on County Line's front porch while we waited for their mother to finish shopping inside. We loved these handmade chairs! They were super comfortable gliders, I hope to own a set someday. You can see that the family farm is set just beyond the business, in this absolutely beautiful, hilly, Wisconsin landscape. I would love to live in this community (I love my Kalona community too!)

       While we were shopping, we told the girl working at the register, that we were from the Kalona area; she told us that she was going to Kalona in a few days. Turned out that she was friends with a family we knew. Her friend was from Kalona but was teaching Amish school near Loganville for a year. Small world? 

Well, that is the Amish world. Every time we have mentioned Kalona in another Amish community, there seems to be some connection, usually a close one too.

I added a few more Loganville area photos so you can see what a scenic place it is.

I left the pictures small to save space, click on them to see them better!

 If your in the area, stop at Carr Valley Cheese Factory, Awesome cheese!





My wife and I.

If you enjoy this blog, check out my Amish Horses Face book page by clicking on this link:   https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses

Grandchild Artwork

        My grandchildren know that I love horses!  My granddaughter Lyla was with her mother at a store and saw a packet of horse stickers, she asked her mom to buy them.  When they got home she had made up her mind that she was going to make a horse picture for her grandpa.  My daughter told me that Lyla wanted her to send me this collage in the mail.  I like how she has put everything together, especially the way she put a saddle on one horse.  Lyla is my horse girl, I'm afraid she has the same bug I have.  I am including a picture of Lyla sitting on Coke, even though this picture has appeared in an earlier post.

        My grandson Alex is my scientist.  He studies books about sea creatures, especially sharks, whales and sea turtles.  He drew this picture for me, I think it is a Percheron.  I am also adding a repeat picture of Alex and myself.  We took a horse drawn wagon ride a few weeks ago, at our place.

This little horse picture was on the envelope.

My Time Machine~

        In my short story, Back in Time, I refer to my S-10 pickup as my little time machine, and myself as a time traveler.  I have also mentioned my time machine in a few of my blog posts; so, I thought I would clear up any confusion.
       If you read about my time machine, I am talking about my S-10 pickup!
 
       You may doubt that I am a time traveler.  If you saw were I work, delivering mail in Iowa City, Ia. (aka: Little New York) and where I travel, rural Kalona, you would believe me.

     

        When I leave Iowa City, Big 10 football game-day, tailgate crowds of tattooed, skimpily dressed, modern people, it's only minutes until I'm taking these cell pics of another world.  Iowa City was named number one party school recently by the Princeton Review, mentioned in USA Today.
       Driving past Amish farms, I feel as though I've slipped back into another century.  Even on my neighbors Mennonite farms, it seems I've gone back a few decades in time.
       This picture to my right was taken on my Mennonite neighbors farm. I was buying some hay and his dog jumped on board.  Dan is having a little conversation with his pooch about getting back off before the Time Machine leaves.

        Most of my cell phone pictures are cropped before you see them.  I try to take out incidental rear view mirror, side mirror and dash board sightings.  I looked through my reject pictures for a couple examples for this blog.

       I want to encourage you, my readers, to use your vehicles as time machines.  Next Saturday, or whenever you get a chance, head to the nearest Amish community; pull in a drive where a sign advertises goods for sale.

        As I have suggested before, go buy some brown eggs, sweetcorn, pumpkins, flowers or anything that is offered for sale.  Even if you don't need what your buying, the experience will be worth far more than the small price you will pay for these goods!
        When you get there, think about what decade it was, the last time someone in your family lived as these Amish do.

My Runaway Horses

       Stonewall and Jackson were actually easygoing, gentle horses.  I bought this team at the Kalona Sale Barn but the guy selling them was an Amish man, that lived only a few miles from my place.  The picture with our dog "Coach" sniffing them was taken on their first day as my horses (you can tell he didn't know them yet.)
        I bought them in the fall and that next spring, when they turned 2, I took them back to my Amish friend, he used them for his spring fieldwork.  When they were ready to come home, my Amish friend and I drove them here.  I hitched them a few days later and took a nice drive down a gravel road, everything went great.

       Just before unhitching them I decided to take them out into some cornstalks, to see how they would react; because I was planning to take my disc out into that cornfield in a few days.  Well, that was a mistake!  A cornstalk poked them or the sound of rustling leaves scared them, I'm not sure, but they took off as fast as they could go.  When we started to get close to a fence, I tried to turn them out into the open field by pulling hard on my left line... it broke.  I fell back into the wagon pulling on the right line and that turned them into the corner of the field and they came to a stop, unharmed.

I was shook up about it, so I took them back to my Amish friend to let him use them a little more.  We ended up having a whole string of runaway stories over the next year.  I'm saving all of that for a collection of short stories about my horses.  I have one of my short stories posted on this blog.  It is a story named, "Back In Time."  You can click on this link below.
http://amishhorses.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

       I was so discouraged because I liked Stone and Jack a lot.
I felt like crying out "Why Lord?"  Now, years later, I know that it all turned out for the better.  I had so many great experiences, taking these boys back to my Amish friends place.  Because of my troubles, I got the opportunity to drive a six-horse hitch, on a plow and a disc (Stone and Jack in the hitch)  and many other interesting jobs.
        All of these experiences ended up as material for my book, Under the Heavens, due out later this year.

Mail Order Barn

        I got up early this morning and drove about 30 miles to my friend Kenny's place, where I buy most of my hay.  My trusty little time-machine S-10 pickup has 26 bales on it.  I drive this far because Kenny always sells me top quality grass hay, cheaper than I can find it anywhere close to home, and he is a great guy too!

        This time I took some pictures of his barn and asked him some questions about it.  He told me that his wife's Grandpa built this barn from a kit, he thinks was ordered out of a Sears catalog.  I have never heard of that!  He didn't know when it was built but guessed in the 20s or 30s.  He told me that each board came with a stamped number on it, so that a person could follow pre-printed directions.  Kenny has been told that four other barns just like this one were built nearby and this is the only one of those four left.  It seems that the arched roof was a weakness, that is until Kenny's grandpa-in-law took matters into his own hands and reinforced the rafters as seen below.  He also added these dormers which also was part of a plan to strengthen the structure.  That old guy is a man to be proud of!  People like him are what this country was built on.

       This beautiful old building and many like it across America need to be protected, they are irreplaceable.  Much of the hay stored in this mow (or loft) will come home to my place for Karm and Coke's winter chow.

       For more old barn photos check out my Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses 

      Click on this link and look for my photo album "Barns" don't forget to "Like" my page while there!

  

Bantams For Sale

                                                                       

       I always thought this Twin County Coon Hunt sign is a fun one!  It has hung here for years, on the corner of 500th and Hwy 1, near Kalona, Iowa.  I'm not sure who the coon hunters are, and I've never seen a sign at the other end of that 3 miles, so for me it is a mystery.

       When I saw the Bantams For Sale sign, I knew where that arrow was pointing, I go by that Amish farm everyday on my way to work.  As you can see by the pictures below, I went on over one evening and bought 3 Bantams.

       I stopped at this Amish farm around dusk and was met by a boy about 8 years old.  I told him that I was wanting to buy some Bantams (We call them Banties)  These chickens are a little smaller than your typical chickens, more feisty too!  This young man set out to sell me some of his large flock of Bantams, leading me back under some shadowy pines, where there were long low coops filled with chickens.  In only a few moments a crowd of his brothers and sisters were with us, as we looked at all the choices of color and ages in their chickens. I believe there were at least six children clumped around me as I tried to decide which chickens to take home.  The children were so cute, dressed in their Amish clothes and stood staring at this unfamiliar non-Amish man.  I told the group of siblings that I knew their grandpa and had bought horses from him before, they all grinned and I could tell I was not a stranger anymore after that.  The young man that was around 8 years old seemed to be the spokes person, that is until his older brother about 15 arrived and then I never heard another word out of the younger brother.  Older brother told me, "We're having Church here tomorrow, that's what all the activity is about!"

       I know that it is a big deal, when Amish host Church at their home.  They usually have relatives come over and help clean everything inside and out for about a week before the big day.  Before I left with my new rooster and two hens, the dad of the house had come around to see what was going on.  He knew who I was and remembered that I had bought horses from his Dad-In-Law.  I apologized for interrupting their preparations for hosting Church but he assured me that his children were more than eager to make a chicken sale!

        Then next morning we woke to the sound of our new rooster crowing.  On our way to Church we passed by this farm.  It looked "as clean as a whistle" and we could see a crowd, dressed in Sunday best seated on long benches inside a pole-building.  I had to wonder what it sounds like at that farm every morning when all their roosters are crowing.

       If you want to buy some Bantams, look for this sign about 5 miles north of Kalona! 

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.