Party Like it’s 1699
“Your season draws nigh, as the north wind blows.”
Chasing them down to take a picture seemed gauche and distasteful,
so I went back to town and bought a quilt
so I went back to town and bought a quilt
I’m visiting the city of New Holland, Pennsylvania in an attempt to parachute into Amish Country to check them out for myself. A parade route was filled with lawn chairs from townspeople who were reserving their spot for the harvest festival parade to begin that next Wednesday. Clever front yard mini-landscapes, and some very hip, thrift shop owners.
While wary of strangers, the Amish seem unaffected by technology, happy in their ways, purposeful in their tasks. Quick too, their horses were really hoofing it and they didn't cause any traffic problems that I could see.
I'm a little skeptical about the "technologically impaired" aspect of the Amish when I see rubber tires and such and I wonder what kind of Smithing was needed to make their bicycles. I know for a fact that the carriage wheels are handmade and many of the carriages are made locally, but I was wondering about the part in the weird al song "Amish Paradise" that goes...
'I take a look at my wife and realize she's very plain
I'm a little skeptical about the "technologically impaired" aspect of the Amish when I see rubber tires and such and I wonder what kind of Smithing was needed to make their bicycles. I know for a fact that the carriage wheels are handmade and many of the carriages are made locally, but I was wondering about the part in the weird al song "Amish Paradise" that goes...
'I take a look at my wife and realize she's very plain
But that's just perfect for an Amish like me,
You know I shun fancy things like electricity."
Going to add a 2021 update here. In October I traversed many of the farm roads as I headed to that seed company in Lancaster. A seed store the Amish shop at. Most distinctly on this trip was noticing how beautiful their horses are. Whatever the horses are eating, its good for them.
When I came out, a precisely painted Buggy and an absolutely beautiful horse were parked next to me. Once again tempted to take a picture I drove over to the corner of the parking lot to prepare for the next leg of my trip.
Around the time of the vengeful hysteria of 9-11, when Saudi hijackers created a war in Iraq, America was out for blood. A flag-waving, Muslim hating minority vowed revenge. Around the same time, there was a mass shooting and five deaths at an Amish schoolhouse. Shocking the country, they forgave the shooter. I thought, wow America … the bloodthirsty tyrants of mass destruction, here’s how real christians act. What part of ‘turn the other cheek’ don’t you understand?
How did the Amish lack the bloodthirsty, vengeful hysteria of George Bush's America?
Big rocks and small yards in New Holland Pa. |
New Holland Pa. |
I found it amusing that they hung their clothes to the electric pole by the street. All kinda laundry drying outside and fields full of
PumpkinsSquashandCorn.
Do you kind of get that they are actually Anarchists and Preppers and Survivalists? They follow the rules that they have to, such as stop lights, but have cut off all ties with the US government. They think Satan is the tapeworm eating America and they plan to outlast Satan.
Note lawn chairs saving a space for the parade on the right |
When this capitalism crap shits the bed, guess who won't even notice |
So I’m in one of the large thrift shops and I see a partial quilt that I really liked and I talked to the lady whose mom was an Amish. She showed me something her mother made and it was quite nice, and then we looked at a piece that caught my eye. 1903 1904 and women's names stitched in. The corner of a quilt where they quilters signed their names. Cut from a corner of an 8x8 foot quilt? Fascinating stitching and colors.
With the ladies 100 years dead, I thought I had gotten myself a bit of an antique, but it was also time to listen. She said the price is negotiable and I was going to say 25, but it was obviously worth more than that, so I said thirty and I had it. In the meanwhile, I love when people volunteer information I’m looking for, and I followed the banter between the co-owners and I learned a lot more than if I asked stupid questions.
As I went to leave to go to Hershey Gardens , I stopped at a farmstand. Finally an Amish in full regalia I could talk to. I didn’t know if they were brainwashed zombies like christians and islamos so I didn’t know what to expect. I was out to get seed potatoes from the Amish which was big on my itinerary from the git-go. But there was nothing sprouted, they were all perfectly beautiful Kennebecs.
I bought a couple pounds of them and six weeks later only five had sprouted. “This is when we plant them in Florida," I had told her. It can get cold some fall and winters and that would slow the growth down some years, and we harvest in April, mostly from containers. Fresh Florida potaters February to April. Note to self.
I bought a couple pounds of them and six weeks later only five had sprouted. “This is when we plant them in Florida," I had told her. It can get cold some fall and winters and that would slow the growth down some years, and we harvest in April, mostly from containers. Fresh Florida potaters February to April. Note to self.
Luckily no customers came along for a bit and she told me about how they specialize. Different people have different talents and tools and she hinted on how their barter system works. Got into a seriously normal conversation for a good twenty minutes till somebody finally came in.
My planning was extensive for my trip, even growing a mustache-less semi-beard despite having no sideburns. Here I look like a stern Amish smiling his fool head.
So whatever it was, this Amish maiden was so real and open and fun to talk to, I’m thinking, you know, these people are probably pretty cool in actuality. Use your head and don’t mess with them.
So whatever it was, this Amish maiden was so real and open and fun to talk to, I’m thinking, you know, these people are probably pretty cool in actuality. Use your head and don’t mess with them.
Instead, bond with people about agriculture. Considering we eat three times a day, a thousand times a year, an important part of the revolution is food. What do I see in gas stations across America? Amish this and Amish that. As I left Amish country there were piles of squash at the end of peoples driveways. 50 cents a piece on that beautiful October afternoon.
If you treat people who are different, like fish at the Atlanta Seaquarium, don’t expect any warmth or confidentiality. Talk about the guy that cuts the silage at the end of the growing season, or discuss tricks of the trade regarding tomatoes and potatoes, well that's another story. Not, "why do you hang your laundry in the front yard", like a city slicker libtard would?
The energy hog we call the dryer, gives most people an automatically bigger carbon footprint than any of the Amish. Do you think the Amish were worried about Hurricane Florence damaging gasoline refineries? We shouldn’t be either, and now ask yourself how many pipelines do you need to supply YOUR community with gasoline.
don't step on the eggshells |
Traditional wetlands for millions of years wiped out in several generations of short-sighted sycophants of capitalism. Carpetbagging trumps, looting someone else's resources.
I see Despicables and Deplorables in line with a mountain of pork chops at the register, and this is somehow more civilized than an Amish root cellar? That’s right, I didn’t see many fat Amish. I can also see the Amish understanding Bioregional Autonomous Zones far better than some city slicker libral could. They are about survival within their community.
Now imagine this type of independence coupled with a less superstitious, strict religion. Hunter-gatherers, harvest gleaners, taking 50 cent Amish squash and selling it for a dollar in Florida. Wholesale Vermont Maple Syrup and making pints to sell, a whole new independent crop of survivalist hucksters will emerge and it will be a good thing.
People living in their cars, camping not homeless. Maybe make our own internet, and corporations and governments can be told to take a hike. Talk to the hand Fascism. Banishment(boycott) all POS corporations as the Amish banish those that they want to remove from their life.
It was the Obama administration that looked the other way when shale oil extraction (fracking) became the norm. Suddenly we were only buying 15% of our oil from the Middle East. Gas prices flattened below three dollars a gallon but unknown toxins were being injected into the bedrock below the soil.
The people of New Holland and the nearby Amish community seem to do parallel play pretty well. Amish carriages never seemed to hold up traffic and they also seemed intent to get things done that Saturday. Trucks with bales of hay going thru Main St and harvests with their gales of surplus.
The Amish will survive Armageddon, will you?
The Amish knew this a long time ago. They will survive. They won't even notice an economic collapse and it seems only cockroaches are tougher than the Amish.
The Amish knew this a long time ago. They will survive. They won't even notice an economic collapse and it seems only cockroaches are tougher than the Amish.