Last weekend the kids and I ventured off to Lancaster, PA, and gave Dad a quiet stay-cation of his own at home. It's the first solo traveling attempt of this kind I've made with the kids, and my first return to Lancaster since my youth. Despite some predictable parenting challenges and severe sleep deprivation, I'm happy to say we all survived and even managed to have a wonderful time! The weather was perfect and the scenery was stunning, and the brief 4-day northeast experience reminded me of my own childhood, growing up in the rural wooded hills of Upstate New York. It's been 4 decades since I lived there, but it doesn't matter how much time has passed - it will always feel like home.
The highlight of our trip was enjoying the amazing production of "Daniel" at Sight & Sound Theater, which was just a hop, skip, and jump away from our hotel - literally, we could walk from one place to the other - so convenient! Another of our Lancaster activities was taking an hour-long horse and buggy ride through the scenic Amish farms. This was something I wanted to do, and the kids were willing to humor me.
As we slowly buggied back in time, stopping at one particular Amish farm for an informal tour, I couldn't help but get in my own head a bit and started to think about what we were doing exactly. We were walking across a real family's property, poking our heads into their barns, giving hay to their animals, and stepping into a spare family garage/extra kitchen to purchase their ice-cold drinks, homemade cookies, and whoopie pies - all sold by a young Amish girl named Miriam who looked to be about 10 years old. And all of the sudden, the whole arrangement felt a little weird to me.
Basically we were observers peering into a very different, very separate, yet very normal way of life. It was like they were in an alien fishbowl, and we were the visitors on the outside commenting on their unusually simple way of life: plain dress, bare feet, gardens galore, horse-drawn carriages, electricity-free living (no television or radio), family and faith-centered outdoor living. The thought came to me that we were awed by humans living like actual humans. Which then made me wonder how the rest of us were living, and which group of people was actually in the fishbowl...
I like to think my husband and I do a pretty good job teaching our kids to enjoy the natural and simple things in life, but in comparison to the Amish, we certainly have a long way to go. I don't mean to say I want to live exactly like they do (my daughter was horrified that schooling stopped at the 8th grade), but there's something to be said for being in the world, but not of it. A few examples:
Fewer distractions
How lovely it must be not to be constantly entertained or have a cell phone in hand at all times, shackled by social media drama, the latest political scandal, or endless advertisements for more plastic-y things we don't even need. Our world sure could use a healthy dose of innocence these days.
Real Community
The Amish are focused on their immediate family, their neighbors, and their local church community. While some might find that a myopic, or maybe even a selfish way to live, part of me finds it quite refreshing. Sometimes I feel worn out and overwhelmed having immediate access to all the things - both wonderful and horrifying - happening all around the world 24/7/365. I don't think we were ever meant to have all that information at our fingertips, or to carry the heavy burden of so many desperate lives.
Real Food
I don't think I saw a single overweight Amish person all weekend. The children were lean and looked well. I honestly don't know exactly how they eat, and I'd bet there is some variation from family to family, but I assume the traditional diet consists of milk and meat from local animals (if not their own livestock), homegrown fruits and vegetables, and quality animal fats like butter, tallow, and lard. Contrast that type of diet with the all-you-can-eat, all things fried, ice cream for breakfast, buffet-type living that we encountered all weekend, and it's easy to see who is living wisely and well.
Physical Activity
With no screens to steal their time, creativity, and attention, the Amish were outside working and playing. Men were at work at farms and factories. Young boys the same age as my own were driving the horses around town doing errands. I saw lots of kids playing in the yard, riding tricycles, or taking walks with siblings. Apparently they also enjoy boardgames and reading books. Imagine that! Did they feel jealous of us with our cell phones and automobiles, or did they feel a sense of sadness on our behalf?
My two boys entranced by the complimentary screens at Red Robin. They put them away once our food came, but it still hurts my heart to see how easy it is to go with the flow of modern American life. The pull is so strong, so enticing, and so relentless.
I know I only witnessed a superficial presentation of Amish life, and maybe I am guilty of wearing rose-colored glasses as I briefly surveyed their environment. Perhaps there is a dark side to living a set-apart life like the Amish. Maybe there are pleasures they miss, educational opportunities that pass them by, experiences and sights that they never get to behold. But if I can adopt at least a few of their timeless principles into my own family, I believe my life would be better for it.
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