P.L. Gaus's Blog: From Ohio's Amish Country, page 6

Amish Scenes from Holmes County, Ohio – Winter’s Serenity

Three inches of snow last night and another two to three inches expected today.  Winter in northeastern Ohio.  When it’s white and quiet like this, there is no place more serene than an Amish farm.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio – Horses Romp in the Snow

This was fun to see – horses on an Amish farm, romping in the snow.  They ran here and there for over an hour that afternoon, and they seemed to delight most in kicking up the snow.  I guess a day like that beats any day pulling a plow.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio – Amish Farm in Winter

Amish farms in Holmes County can be complicated.  Like this one that lies on a hill near Charm, Ohio.  It is quintessentially Amish and altogether fascinating – how much is happening here in this image!  Some say Amish people are simplistic.  Perhaps, but there is nothing simple about this farm.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio – Amish Wagon in Snow

Here is a photo of an Amish horse and wagon that I captured a few years ago, when the snow was every bit as deep as it is right now in Holmes County.  It seems that every other day or so we have been getting another two to three inches of the white blessings of winter.  I look forward to the day when I can show you some images of Amish springtime.  Someday soon, I hope.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio – Parochial School

This Amish parochial school was built four years ago on the borderline between Holmes County and Wayne County.  It has handicapped access, a mud room at front, two softball backstops, and a very large playground.  On days like today, even with temperatures well below zero, you can see the children walking to school along the country lanes.  I doubt there’ll be much outdoor play for recess today, but in milder weather (when we finally have some) it’s fun to see the kids playing softball, or swinging, or pumping the Teeter-Totters.  School for Amish children?  It’s like anyone else, I suppose – it’s hard to stay inside for recess.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio – An Amish Farm Sleeps In Winter

We have had a hard winter in Ohio, and no one feels it more than the Amish do.  Amish farms are quiet places under a new snowfall.  I like to stand on the lane and listen to the silence.  It is peaceful and serene.  Usually there is wood smoke in the air, and sometimes I’ll see someone driving a team with a manure spreader out across a field.  But mostly it is quiet, and the Amish families are inside near the wood stoves.

Amish Farm Sleeps In Winter

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Stories From Ohio’s Amish Country – Ring-Necked Pheasants and a Horse Trade

Interesting details about Amish trading customs are sometimes available in Sugarcreek’s The Budget newspaper, specifically in the letters sent it from Amish scribes around the world, who regularly report for subscribers to The Budget what has happened of note in the last week or so in their far-flung Amish farm communities. It seems that Amish people everywhere subscribe to The Budget, so that they can get news from friends and relatives who have established settlements throughout North America, Central America, and other continents as well.

 

This week’s Budget contained a letter from an Amish colony in Tennessee. It seems that a visitor wanted to buy two mating pairs of ring-necked pheasants from an Amish farmer, who is the scribe for his church. The farmer asked for $15 per mating pair, or a total of $30 for the set. The visitor replied that, well, he had a horse, and maybe they could make a straight-up trade, the horse for two mating pairs of ring-necked pheasants. They agreed on the deal, and the farmer/scribe reported that only later did he realize that he now had another horse to feed. Maybe it wasn’t such a good trade after-all, he mused.

 

Droll, wouldn’t you say? If that story tickles you, perhaps you ought to subscribe to the Sugarcreek Budget. You can find the details on their website, but they only take checks through the mail. Sorry, no credit card or internet subscriptions are accepted. You actually have to mail them a check. But I suspect that if The Budget is something that interests you, you won’t mind the snail-mail hassle.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio

Here is an Amish horse farm in the heart of Holmes County. We’re having a clear and sunny day today, and here the sky is a rare blue for northern Ohio. Amish country is also horse country, and on this farm, the horses have always been well tended. It’s nice to see the health and vitality in rural Ohio, and this image dislplays it as well as any I have taken in recent years.

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Amish Scenes From Holmes County, Ohio

I think I’ll start up my photo series again, featuring Amish scenes from Holmes County, Ohio’s Amish Country. It is a quiet time of year right now, and this photo let’s us see the solitude and peacefulness of an Amish farm in winter. I’ll have some more photos like this as the winter wears on, and then we’ll switch to spring. I hope you enjoy the images.

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Whiskers Has Earned a Prestigious Kirkus Star

I have wonderful news for my ninth Amish-Country Mystery. Whiskers of The Lion has earned a prestigious Star from Kirkus Review. The starred review will appear in the February 1st edition of the magazine. It is available now online, for those who have a subscription. The review reads in part:

“Out of the peaceful world of buggies and prayer caps, Gaus conjures a nail-biter that doesn’t give up its secrets any quicker than the Amish.”

This is abundant good news for the book, and I couldn’t be happier. Whiskers of The Lion will be published on March 31st by Plume Books, a Division of Penguin Random House.

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