April 14, 2002
Photo of the Day More: 2003 Dogwood 2003 Technology Two 2002 Backyard Lights Tree Hunting 2003 Subaru WRX Pumpkin Carve #3 9/11/02 Bloomin' Oink! Window Boxes Beach and Parade Dogwood 2002 Gina The Slide Got Milk? Pizza Face First Word 2001 Walking Pumpkin Carve Crawling Raspberries Highwire Mr. Good Times Dogwood 2001 The Smells City Smoke Central Park Food Shopping Chelsea Skyline Times Square Uncle Max The View Sunday Ride Dreamin Good Fences March Lion The Pacifier Birth Story Snow Day New Millennium 2000 Festivus Prenatal Prep Painting Who's There? The Beagle Beach Day Halloween Perfect Fall Day Pumpkin Carving Water Gap Peek-A-Boo Cake Smashing Got Lost Bad Connection Pedro gets Shaved Summer's End New Cruiser Sick Kitty It's a... The iPuppy Summer's End In Season Wet Wood Technology The Sunset Strange Sunday Hole in One Pregnant Dirt Track Atlantic City Dog Walking Necessity Bicycle Racing Falling Down Murder Noah and the Ticks Ode to Our Pets Bubba Share the Road Dogwood Preview Thunder Exercise Ridglea Gardensize Thumbnails Playtime The Zoo Lacie Cat Chasin Chester County Nintendo Wall Building Easter Sunday |
Lancaster County is just west of here, the next county over, to be exact. So near, yet so far, as the proverb goes. For those not familiar with Lancaster, PA, it's popularly known as the home of the Amish. Witness, that classic film with Harrison Ford where he stays with the Amish family while hiding from some random criminal, that was shot in Lancaster. We spent a good part of Saturday in Lancaster County, with the Amish and the cows. We even finished things off with a hearty farmhand buffet on the way home. It was classic Lancaster.
Saturday morning, not long after we awoke, Michelle suggested a trip out to Lancaster. The true motivation for the trip was a visit to one of the Amish nurseries out that way. Cheap plants, grown the natural way, simply can't be beat. I figured the diversion would be nice, besides, it had been a long while since I last wandered around the back roads near Lancaster. It's quiet, scenic, and quite bucolic. Lots of cows and corn. Of course, this time of year, there's not much corn yet. Most of the Amish farmers were out this weekend, tilling their fields, getting prepped for the big corn planting in a week or so. The land has really begun to take a liking to spring this year, and the countryside was green with new, young growth. The farmers were all out preparing their fields, and the cows were out munching on the fresh green fields. As for the nursery, it was packed, mostly with city folk out looking to snatch a bargain on young plants for the season. The public area of the farm consist mostly of several humid greenhouses filled with rows of seedlings stacked on rows of shelves from floor to ceiling. Fill up a pallette for twenty bucks with whatever variety you can possibly imagine. They have it. The back room, of course, where you go to pay, is staffed by German-speaking Amish women. One older Amish man works the register while the rest of the staff is seated at a long work bench, arranging seedlings and gossipping in their native tongue. As I stood there watching E stare at the strange folk, I realized for perhaps the first time in years what an odd sight the Amish must be for those not accustomed to them. Not to claim that I'm an Amish expert. I'm certainly not. But I've driven over their roads and visited their farm stands enough to get used to their oddities. Nothing to see here, move along. Which is the greatest thing about having a kid. You really do get to experience everything all over again for the first time. So when we saw the herd of cows munching grass by the side of a quiet country road, it was a legitimate excuse to stop, get out of the car for a moment, and snap a few photos. Everything that is old is new again. |
