P.L. Gaus's Blog: From Ohio's Amish Country, page 10

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-56

An Amish farmer on a large tract of Holmes County land seems small and insignificant here.  The sixteenth century plow seems antiquated.  The horses seem inadequate to the task.  But within the week, this stretch of farmland was plowed, harrowed and ready for planting.  Slow and small isn't always ineffective.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-55

Here is something most people haven't seen before: sheep in a pasture.  Well, special Amish sheep in a pasture.  I took this photograph on an Amish farm in Holmes County, Ohio, and I've been chuckling about it ever since.  Sometimes I think I ought to run a tour.  Then other times I think that maybe the photographs are enough.  A lot of what I notice in Amish country is plain and normal in an every day sort of way.  This image is one of the most interesting exceptions.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-54

Here is a young Amish woman with her team of Belgians.  She had been plowing the field in the near foreground when I saw her.  I watched her work steadily back and forth for quite a while, and I wondered how someone so young was able to keep balance and steer the team.  But she kept to a remarkably straight line, and she seemed to be making easy work of it all.  Amish people think nothing of it.  Of course everyone learns to plow a field.  It's as fundamental as driving a car.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-53

Here is an Amish man, with three of his Belgian draft horses, walking behind his plow.  He is in standard blue denim clothes, and he is wearing his warm weather straw hat.  All of the fields visible in this photograph will need to be plowed, and before it is finished, he'll have his older sons and daughters helping with the work.  It is quiet, peaceful work, and it is certainly close to the soil.  That is the essence of Amish life.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-52

Here is a little Amish school in Holmes County.  Shortly after I took this picture, the kids ran out with their softball gloves, bats and balls, and just as fast as that, a game was under way.  Amish kids it seems are just as fond of recess as English ones are.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-51

Here is a new Amish farmstead.  The house and barn will have been built for the young couple by family and neighbors.  The Amish are an industrious people, and fifty years from now you can expect a sprawling complex of barns, Daadihauses, outbuildings, and workshops.  But here is what it looks like for young marrieds starting their lives together.  That's pretty good, wouldn't you agree?

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-50

The best country lanes in Holmes County are the narrow blacktopped ones.  Here the farms are back away from the cities, and the countryside is pastoral and serene.  There is little traffic here, and I like to park, sit, and watch.  That's when the real beauty of Amish Country comes through.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-49

In Holmes County's Amish Country, it's all about the horses.  Here there were several out to pasture, and although Amish people do not like to have their picture taken, I don't think the horses minded at all.  It's not that Amish people are superstitious.  It's just that they take the scriptural injunction seriously when it demands that there be no graven images.  Besides, posing for a photograph would be considered prideful.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-48

This buggy was really moving along.  That's a race horse in the lead, stepping proudly and making a show of it.  Just because they are Amish doesn't always mean they travel slowly.  Sure, plenty of times the buggies are slow, and it can be an aggravation to motorists in Holmes County.  But this buggy, on this day, wasn't slow at all.

Photos From Ohio's Amish Country: Spring-47

At Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen in Mt. Hope, Ohio, there is a parking lot for cars and a separate one for buggies.  Both Amish and English people enjoy the food here.  As you might expect, you can be sure the food is good when you see even Amish people making a point of dining there.  I think Mrs. Yoder's is one of the best Amish restaurants in Holmes County.