Buggy

I see more carts than buggies in my 

neighborhood. Carts weigh less, and 

the horse can go faster. Since they 

travel about 6 mph, there's a need for 

speed. (Bonus points if you know the 

movie that line is from!

Vickie commented a couple days ago that she couldn't tell the Amish buggies apart, but that they are all a little different. I had that conversation with Grandma Detweiler at dinner Monday night! We were watching a buggy come up the road and she knew exactly who it was, and she told me what characteristic of that particular rig gave it away. Fascinating.

Vickie also mentioned hand-painted china. It was everywhere, in every home I visited. I somehow thought Amish weren't so interested in decorative items, but apparently they limit their plain-ness to their own appearance. Every home had a huge china cupboard (or two!), packed with enough dinnerware to serve everyone in church (since their church services are held in their homes). The prettiest pieces are front and center.

Several pieces of personalized china adorned the guest room I stayed in – little ceramic hearts with my hosts' names painted on them, a "sisters are best friends" plate.

The other thing I noticed was an abundance of clocks and calendars. And since I was there when the month changed from September to October, I took it upon myself to flip the calendar pages over to the new month. And the new picture, which is why there were so many calendars. They don't decorate with framed artwork or family portraits. They save and display all the calendars from the feed store, the dry goods store, the horse tack store, etc.

I can't really explain the plethora of clocks.

I brought home some butternut squash (three of them, for a total of $1.15 – take that!, Tiny Kroger) and some candy for my husband. I also brought home some kind of intestinal bug that has kept me from doing any Up & Running workouts this week. I'm feeling much better this morning and will try to do a Week Three session today. (I've been advised to repeat Week Three, and I think that's a good idea.)

Gingerzingi, I had to go look up "Gangnam Style." How did you know that!?! Thank you, Google, for explaining the reference. It cracks me up to think of Amish children and a Korean pop star in the same sentence.