One Room School

          My step-mother used to teach in a one-room Amish school.  She did a fantastic job and stays in touch with many of her students and teacher aids. (who were also Amish)  Her teacher aids were a great help, especially because her kindergarten students often didn't know English.

          This turned out to be a great experience for me too!  I really enjoyed going to spring music programs and other events.  My mom constantly tried to come up with fun learning experiences for the children.  On one occasion, she told the oldest boys that if they put out good effort, at the end of a quarter, her son Tom would take them on a field trip.  The boys seemed excited about it, even though it was a unique twist.
        They succeeded in their endeavors

and so I came and picked them up in my car... to take them to see my horse.  I had a half Arabian, half Quarter Horse, riding mare at the time.  She was a great horse but probably not anything too special for those 7th and 8th grade Amish boys to look at.  They seemed to be having fun.  They politely showed interest in my horse, and were really happy when we stopped for ice cream.

          I had to think that it would be like taking an average, modern kid in a buggy to go see an ordinary car!

Mennonite Dairy Farm

                    I arrived at my good friend's dairy farm around 6:30 am and found morning chores going strong.  I asked Calvin if I could interview him and post a blog about his Organic Dairy Farm, he seemed happy to oblige.  I started out with the obvious, "So, Calvin, organic farming means no herbicides or pesticides?"  He shook his head yes, but added, "No toxic fertilizers either."

          Calvin opened my eyes to a whole new level of understanding.  He started by explaining, "It's not just what we don't do... but what we do."

          I was glad to be there while morning milking was being done.  I love the smell of a dairy parlor, the sight of cows calmly being milked, and the continual pulsing sound.  He continued milking cows while he explained, "Our goal is to promote life and not destroy it."  He looked over at me for a moment as if to be sure I knew how serious he takes that  life principle.  "We rotate our crops and use natural fertilizers."
He told me, "I went to a meeting in 1977 about organic farming and learned that one good handful of healthy farm soil has 3-4 billion living organisms in it, approximately the amount of people living on earth at that time." 

          Obviously that meeting struck a cord within Calvin because he  has been committed to organic farming ever since.  "The way I see it, God knew what he was doing when he put all that life in the soil... it has a purpose.  We are interested in the dynamics of our soil, healthy micro-organisms, fungi, natural bacteria and earthworms.  Earthworms are probably the most important life in the soil."  He explained how keeping the soil healthy is his goal, I perceived he believes it is his moral duty.  He communicated to me that a foundation of healthy soil produces healthy crops, resulting in healthy livestock, and healthy food for humans.

                 

           He reminded me, "the Bible says, 'You reap what you sow.'  If you put toxins in the ground what do you expect to get in return."   He quoted another verse, "... Overcome evil with good."  implying that he doesn't want to use poisons to battle the pests and weeds that all farmers struggle with.

          Calvin's philosophy of life encompasses every aspect of what he does.  I felt healthier just walking on his farm.  Drinking that healthy milk, produced by cows that have been eating hay and grain raised on healthy soil, filled with life, seems rich.  When you drink that milk you are drinking in all that commitment to a healthy cycle of farming.  

          Echo Dell farm is part of Organic Valley, Family of Farms.  Iowa City, New Pioneer Co-op sells their milk and other organically produced products.

Part 2                                                                                

                             

                    During the next few days, I worked out a plan where I would be able to afford Abe’s mares, if I could only talk him down a little in price.  After work one afternoon, I sped quickly down the highway and turned down the gravel road leading to the 1800s again.  I parked my truck, awkwardly near the hitching post and rolled out, back in time.  On this visit, I only talked to Virgil.  I found him out in the barn.  It was milking time and large black-and-white Holsteins, each in a stanchion, waited patiently to be milked.  I drew in the sweet smell of hay and cows; Michael was milking and told me where to find Virgil.
Only too happy to show me the horses again, Virgil slid open a large door and the line of big black horses clomped into their stalls and calmly let the young man put on their halters and tie them.  I asked if we could take the two mares I was thinking about buying, outside, so I could see them in full daylight...

(to read more, click on Back in Time tab on the menu bar above)

If you already read part 1, scroll down to part 2

Part 3 will be added 6/26

Short Story

                               

                            In a small, gray S-10 Pickup, hustling down gravel roads over Iowa’s rolling hills, I had one of my experiences with time travel.  In a cloud of dust, I crossed a time warp and found myself somewhere in the late 1800s.  Stumbling out of my little truck, I headed toward a large, white barn.  I looked for signs of life inside.  Some voices could be heard coming from within, and I followed the sound until I found a young man and woman having a conversation.  The woman stood there, barefoot, with a long, plain, green dress, playing with her apron strings.  The man had his thumbs under his suspenders, his face hidden by a straw hat.  Unnoticed, I listened for a moment, and couldn't make out a word they were saying.  They spoke in a foreign tongue, but their conversation seemed quite pleasant, as laughter filled the air.
  Suddenly, they saw me and the room fell silent.  They looked me up and down, as if I were some kind of alien.  “Is your dad around?” I asked.  “He’s up at the house.” The young man answered in broken English.  I left them behind, heading up toward a very large, white farm house.  Everything seemed familiar; I knew I had been here, on an earlier voyage, but didn't know if those living here remembered  me.  Passing under spinning shadows of a windmill that clattered rhythmically...

           (To read more... click on, Back in Time, tab on the menu bar above.)

Please Come back Soon!

I- Robyn Rasmussen, am just getting started with helping my dad- Thomas Nye, start a web presence for his book that he has just written titled: "Under the Heavens". I myself have loved writing for quite some time now and have several blogs that I have manage including Tips from the Heart and Ruby Ellen Photography. I have a diploma in Retail marketing, combined with an AA in Interior Design, a photography business as well as 13 years of retail experience that have led up to me becoming my dad's "marketing" manager. Which leads me to the real topic at hand, my Dad! :)

As long as I can remember my dad has been a talker and a great story teller. As a little girl I remember having long conversations about things he remembers from being a young boy to when he met my mom and when he got his first horse. I must have gone over those stories dozens of times but listening to my daddy tell stories with so much detail and enthusiasm, I never got tired of them.

About this time last year I was blessed to have the rare opportunity to go with my parents and my brother on a trip to their timeshare. As an adult, with children of my own, it rarely happens that I am without children, and my other sisters, with time to just talk to my dad and mom. While on this trip my dad brought up the fact that he was writing a book!?! I thought maybe it was just a short story, as he had done many times before. But this was different. As he read the first chapter to me aloud I began to get tears in my eyes and chills up my spine- the good kind. That's when I knew this was something special, something different than before, something big.

Fast forward one year.

Throughout the year I remained diligent in asking him if his book was finished yet and so excited to see where it would take him. I will never forget the first night when I got my hands on that beautiful single spaced, inch thick, neatly-typed copy. As I sat down to delve into the book for the first time I had no idea the amount of pride that would flow from my heart as I finished reading it.

I knew that I was to be reading it with an editing eye but as I read and started making minor corrections I almost felt guilty, like I was changing something sacred? I took my time reading it, turning each page to the back of the stack as I reached for the next. Pen in one hand, thick stack of paper in the other I spent mornings curled up with my coffee mug and evenings curled up with a bowl of ice-cream. Carefully sipping and lapping each word in.

As I began to read about a young man, confused about where he really fit in, I began to connect with Lenny as I knew him. A clear picture of his surroundings, in beautiful Iowa Amish countryside, was ingrained in my head, the words painting the perfect picture. The climax of the story drew me in and tears flowed from my cheeks and I had that huge lump in my throat, as I could feel the pain of Lenny's heartache, the character that I felt so connected to. Yet, even through the pain, the story has a silver lining that brought a gentle smile to my face as I read the last paragraph and already started planning the sequel in my head.

Maybe I am partial, maybe I am trained to love horses, maybe I already wish I was Amish at times, or maybe this book is just plain amazing! I'm thinking the later of the choices is the truth. The copy I read, although not grammatically perfect, was the perfect marriage of truth, opinion, history and story.  What a little editing can do is no match to what it can't do, and that is-  make a beautiful story to read.  I am told by my Dad that after submitting to some publishers the critiques have led to an even better story line that I have yet to read. At any rate I am excited to see where this book is headed.

I am a strong believer in what is meant to be will be and I am just feeling like this is the time that my father is meant to get his voice out there in a big way.

Congrats to my daddy and please join us as we embark on the big and sometimes scary-overwhelming task of publishing a first book. I love you to pieces daddy! -Your oldest daughter, Robyn