Amish Books

 I love history. My favorite time period would probably be the early 1800's.
       Growing up, I always read horse books and watched cowboy movies.  Throughout my life, I have read a ton of books about Native Americans and the Civil War. When I moved to a community that was populated by Amish and Mennonites, it came to my attention that living in this area was the closest thing to going back in time.  Now, I love Amish books, because they have the essence of those wonderful by-gone years, yet, the events taking place in these books are possibly happening in the here and now.

       A short time ago, I set up a new Facebook page named, Amish Books.  I have gone to great lengths to connect you with as many types of books about the Amish, and with as many authors of Amish Books as I can.
       I discovered that many Facebook pages about Amish books are managed by specific publishing houses to promote their own titles.  This fact limits the variety of books they can share with you.

       If you are on Facebook, please check out Amish Books and "Like" it!  If you hear of any books about the Amish, please feel free to share them with all of us on this Facebook page.  Here is the link for Amish Books:
   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amish-Books/720643077981078 

       I will gladly post any Amish book on this page.  My goal is not to decide which are "good" or "poor" but to make you aware of as many titles as possible.  I'm sure that different readers will connect with different authors, depending on their interest.  Some are looking for romance novels while others may be interested in farm life or religious views.

       Under the Heavens, is more of the type about life on an Amish farm.  As the series title (Amish Horses) suggests, there is a focus on horses, yet it includes a little romance and religion to boot.

Where Horses are still King

 There was a day when horses ruled the earth, so to speak.  In the 1800's, horses powered most of the world, at least on land, while steamboats ruled the waters.  Shortly after the turn of the twentieth-century their reign ended, as they stepped to the side of the road while automobiles and tractors took over.

 When we used horses everyday as our main mode of transportation and when they powered our farming operations, we knew them well.  Nowadays, even many horse owners barely understand their friend, the horse, and struggle to work peacefully with their charges.

What I have discovered, living near an Amish community, is that there is no replacement for working with horses everyday, if you want to understand them.  I love my own horses, but when bad weather hits, they stand in the barn.  Imagine if the only way you could go anywhere, in any weather, was to harness up a  horse and hitch it to a buggy or wagon.  Wind, rain, cold, heat, storms or being in a hurry, all are enough to make a preacher swear... when he is in a car. Try all of that behind a horse.

Generation after generation of farmers, passed down horse handling skills to their children and grandchildren, as they worked together on the farm.  Now, we try to learn those same things from a manual or DVD.  It is always better to learn first hand from a master, not to mention what we've lost, in not spending time with our extended family.  My Amish neighbors are still part of this historic loop, that we have stepped out of in order to improve our lives through modernization. 

 There is still a place where horses are King,

among the Amish

Pictures provided by my friend, Jerry.  If you would like a print of any (but the boy and draft horse,) contact me at amishhorses@outlook.com and I will get you in contact with Jerry.

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

Amish Novel

                                           

       Under the Heavens, just released through Crosslink Publishing.

                                       http://www.tinyurl.com/underheavens

        What is it that makes people drawn to Amish novels? I was recently looking at a Facebook page of an Amish novelist, asking her "friends" to comment on what made them fascinated by books about the Amish.
       This was very interesting to me and got me thinking about a more personal question, what makes an author drawn to write an Amish novel?
       I'm sure that some writers choose this topic because they know there is a built in market. But, I'm thinking that most have the same motivation that I have.

       In this modern electronic/computer age, we can feel that we have lost something valuable from our past. One only has to spend a few moments around Amish people to have this feeling validated. There is something about a simple, uncomplicated lifestyle that makes life more rich and fulfilling. This is why I have always loved historical books and movies. Yet, when I read about the old days, I feel sad because what I love about those days is gone.
       The beauty of reading (and writing) about the Amish is that we can slip into that simple, old-fashion world and know that it is still alive and well, somewhere just around the corner. A perfect combination of past and present.

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

Hog Farm

        In the good old days Iowa was covered with scenes like this one. Hog sheds were everywhere and big sows could be seen rooting in fields with a litter of baby pigs nearby. Now, this type of view is about non-existent.

I was born in Iowa but we moved to Michigan in 1965. I moved back to Iowa in 1980 and clearly remember seeing hogs in fields all over. From 83 to 88, I worked in a hog confinement operation with close to a thousand sows in house.  That type of operation has taken over the industry and today very few small farmers can compete with those mega farms.

 I miss the old style hog farm!

Whenever I pass by this farm I slow down and look in, remembering how things used to be.  We can't go back in time or even make time stand still, but we can take time to look around and appreciate what is around us.  We never know what changes will take place.

I have to remind myself that the present is tomorrow's good old days.