Thursday 19 May 2016

Monday, May 16th, 2016

Monday, May 16th, 2016
Burton, Ohio

Horses and More

The sights of the morning were horses and buggies-- of course horse-drawn in some cases.  Indeed, this is Amish country and I'm loving it.  The men were repairing a barn roof.  The women doing the laundry.  That I could not see but I did view one lady putting out the family wash for drying on the clothes line.  This is the first day for all day sun in a while.

Anne, the reporter from 'Maple Leaf' newspaper, had mentioned to me that the Amish kids are the only ones that play in the yard.  There's an implication here that most other kids are locked indoors, by choice, addicted to devices.

"I believe you're right, Anne."

I was a curiosity for them.  The darlings say to me, "Hello!" to which I would say, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," they say as they tilt their head in shyness.  Our encounter always ends up with the wave of a hand.  I end up feeling as though I've stepped back into a more innocent era.  This is old school lifestyle they're living through - and I like being part of it - though it's so temporal.

The chief of police from Burton, Richard Smigelski, came out to see if I'm doing alright.  Chris McClellan, who builds earth homes for people (UncleMud.com!), also stopped to talk.  This is interesting what he does.  I really wanted to spend more time with him but I had to move on.

Come to think of it a song about rambling on came to mind - a song by Patrick Sky called 'Many a Mile' from the sixties.  It's a heart-puller and I used to sing it out loud in the valleys during my hitch-hiking days before becoming a monk.

Yes it was a step into the past.  Thank you Atmarama and Manjula for hosting us.

May the Source be with you!

20 km / 12 miles

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