Amish and birding...one of their favorite hobbies

I see many folks comment on how Amish are selling birdhouses in their front yards. Well, some might, but most likely they’re enjoying one of their favorite past times: birding. Feeders of all types abound on Amish farms, from the cylinder finch feeders, wooden feeders, and purple martin houses. They’re active in the Audubon bird count, really caring about their feathered friends. Some Amish raise pigeon too, just for enjoyment.

In Amish Knitting Circle, Jeb makes his wife, “Granny”, a white gourd birdfeeder. Here’s an excerpt from the Christmas Cookies edition. Before this scene, they were stringing cranberries as a Christmas present to their birds:

They both sat in silence, listening to the tick-tock of the pendulum clock. The wind beat against the windows at a steady pace, and Granny thought of all the shawls they’d made so far for the tornado victims, and the thought warmed her heart.              

            She was startled when Jeb sprang up and ran from the kitchen and out the door. What on earth? Is he so upset about Luke and Ruth he needs to take one of his walks? She got up and looked outside but saw nothing, it being pitch black. You’ll kill yourself on that ice….Old Man. Granny went to her white cookie jar, needing a sugar cookie. They were gone? The grandkids had raided her jar again? She huffed and put her hands on her hips, but then chuckled. They didn’t realize just how many cookies she had hidden in containers all over the house.

Granny heard the door open and felt a blast of cold air. She turned to see Jeb, riddled with snowflakes all over his black clothes, and saw that he held a large box.

            “I just couldn’t wait.” Jeb walked over and gave her a kiss. “Here’s your Christmas present.”

            She hugged him, even if his coat was freezing cold. “Danki, Love.” Jeb placed the large box, wrapped in brown paper, on the table. Granny sure loved presents and ripped it open in no time. “Ach, Jeb, I love it.”

            “When we were stringing cranberries for the birds, it got harder and harder not to give it to you. Made it myself.”

            Granny’s eyes misted as she saw the all-white gourd birdhouse. Jeb had grown extra gourds this year and she always wondered why.

            “It’s a purple martin feeder,” Jeb said. “They can get in on all four sides.” He picked up the large feeder and pointed to the opening on all four gourds that were attached to make a circle.

            Granny looked at Jeb and wondered what she did to get such a loving husband. He hung on her every word. She’d mentioned last summer she’d always wanted a gourd feeder. She loved the feeder, but the fact that Jeb remembered what she’d said in the summer …She squeezed Jeb again. “I love you…Old Man.”

 In the story, Jeb has a fishing hole, and if you dig a pond, the mosquitos will come. Granny wanted a purple martin house since they eat bugs in mid-air, and love mosquitos.

Here are some pictures of gourd feeders I took in Smicksburg, PA….where Granny and Jeb live ;)

Combo gourd and purple martin hotel ;)

I slowed down to see if the Amish man on the left, peaking out from the barn, was selling feeder. He wasn't.

Notice how high the martin houses are place. Must be better for the birds to catch bugs.

I don't think the Amish living here will have one mosquito to pester them.

A lone purple martin house in a field, but always close to the family home.

Bestselling author, Jerry Eicher, shares about his Amish heritage and works in progress.

  

                    

I’m so pleased to have Jerry Eicher on Amish Crossings to help celebrate my new book, The Amish Doll, set in the same location of his Little Valley Series. Cattaraugus County, New York, is an hour south of Buffalo, in the heart of the Snowbelt. I used to live in this area and know he portrayed it very well. It’s my hope that Amish enthusiast will visit lesser known settlements, even finding them in their neck of the woods, so to speak.

Jerry was raised Amish, so his fiction, based on his heritage, are correct.  After a traditional Amish childhood, Jerry taught for two terms in Amish and Mennonite schools in Ohio and Illinois. Since then he’s been involved in church renewal, preaching, and teaching Bible studies. Jerry lives with his wife, Tina, and their four children in Virginia. His. bestselling Amish fiction includes The Adams County Trilogy, the Hannah’s Heart books, the Little Valley Series, and The Fields of Home.

Let’s get right into the interview.

• Jerry, can you tell us how you started writing Amish fiction?

Many authors begin autobiographically, and I was no different. Writing in fiction form, I traced my growing up years in an Amish home. Most of which was spent in Honduras, Central America. The result was, a book called A Time to Live, but no publisher was interested. I self-published and the distributor of Choice Books test marketed for me. They came back with a positive report and said they would carry the title if I made changes to the cover and the price. 

I did, and Choice sold around 6000 copies.  Afterwards, my contact at Choice, Mr. John Gerber, said he wanted Amish romance stories. I said I didn’t write romance, that I wrote suspense. But he wouldn’t back down. So to please Mr. Gerber, I wrote, Sarah, which ended up selling over 30,000 copies.  Harvest House then took me on in 2009 with The Adams County Trilogy.

     

•  Can you share a special memory of your Amish upbringing?

“My Grandfather on the Eicher side of the family lived in a long white house with large windows in the front. Towards the back the house had a wing attached, with the mud room and woodshed giving easy access for the coming and goings from the barn. A portion of the house had an upstairs, the roof line leaving the welcoming sweep of the front windows unaffected.

            “Here I remember the prayers around mealtimes, the long table used to seat everyone. Grandfather Eicher would lead out in his sing song chant that charmed and fascinated me. It was as if he knew a secret he wasn’t telling us. Some hidden pleasure he had found that we could not yet see.

“I always remember him laughing. That was how he approached us grandchildren, his

 white beard flowing down his chest, his face glowing with happiness. And it didn’t take a special occasion to put him in such a mood. It was as if we were the occasion.”

(This is an unedited excerpt from My Amish Childhood due out in Jan. 2013 by Harvest House}

•  On your blog, it states, “Amish are people with a pertinent message to give, and Eicher       seeks to be true to that message.”  What message do you believe the Amish give modern day USA?

They believe that the modern life has little to offer the believer when it comes to spiritual growth. That success as the world measures it is usually empty. Rather they believe what satisfies a man or a woman; are family, community, peace in his own heart and with those living around him. They believe that God’s will is in everything, and that accepting that will brings true and lasting spiritual happiness. 

•       Are you thankful for your Amish heritage?

My heritage was never an issue with me. I see it as everyone having to be something. What mattered to me was the love of my parents, and the spiritual health of the community I grew up in. For those things I am thankful, but they are not necessarily related to being Amish. 

•  Why did you choose Cattaraugus County to write your Little Valley Series?

I discovered the community while driving to my Grandmother Stoll’s funeral in Aylmer, Ontario. Later I stopped in, and loved the countryside. It’s just beautiful up there. And the character, Ella was born. I discovered after the books were written that Ella is modeled after my Grandmother’s spiritual nerve. But I didn’t set out to make that connection in the beginning.

•   There are many books out now about leaving the Amish. What do you think of this and do you agree?

The best known story, and the one I’m familiar with is Ira Wagler’s Growing up Amish. I loved the book, both for its style and honesty. Wagler’s story is genuine and tenderly told. Granted, it doesn’t make the Amish look good, but much worse could be said than what Wagler included in his book. 

The assumptions being drawn is what I have a problem with. At its heart, Growing up Amish is more than a story about being, or not being Amish. Wagler tells a human story. That of a very successful man, i.e. his father, David Wagler. Who by Wagler’s own definition was the most famous Amish man of his day and a man who either does not, or cannot properly relate to his sons.  Yet, this could just as well have happened anywhere.

The point is that the Amish are not immune to the human sin problem. They think their culture is a better context in which to deal with sin. But most of them are not blind to the fact that it takes the same Christian redemptive process in their lives as in any other believer.

Of course I am aware of those Amish communities—and even families within communities—who have lost sight of this truth. And they are primarily the ones from where the horror stories come.  Any culture, who thinks itself immune from the human sin problem, is in for a rude awakening. What usually follows, is that, having made the culture an issue, the conclusion is naturally drawn by the victim that the culture is the problem. In this case, the Amish culture.

•  Have you ever been to an Amish wedding?  Can you tell us a little about it?

I grew up Amish, but since then, we don’t get invitations to weddings. Although my parents—who are also Mennonites—received one for this June.  And we’re driving, so we might get to take that one in.

I frequently go through Amish weddings in my fiction. The service starts at nine in the morning, and goes until after twelve. A big meal follows the vows, and things break up for the afternoon. In the evening it’s the young people’s time, with supper at six. Everyone has to pair up, even if you’re not dating. Singing starts at 7:30 and goes to 9:00. The young folks split the scene, but the older folks hang around talking, sometimes until midnight. 

And the young married couple can’t leave until the last guest does. Midnight or no midnight.

•  What is your contact with the Amish today?  What do they think about you writing about them?

My side of the family has their headquarters in Aylmer, Ontario. Basically, running the community of four districts, I believe.  So far they’ve tolerated us coming back for funerals. The same goes for Tina’s home community in northern Indiana.

We left the Amish from Belle Center, Ohio. That’s been over twenty years now, and hostile feelings have settled down. I wouldn’t get invitations to weddings yet, but we do attend the funerals to a warm welcome. 

At the last funeral we attended, I was accosted afterwards by several men about my Amish fiction. They had strong objections. Words like, lucrative and opportunistic were tossed about. I smiled and pointed out that I wasn’t doing anything that the Amish at Pathway Publication hadn’t done for years. I grew up reading the Simon & Susie stories. And other than being more culturally accurate and having a more pointed message, current romance stories published in The Young Companion are not that distinguishable from mainline “Amish Fiction”.

• What books are you working on now? 

We still have to finish The Fields of Home series in 2012, with Where Love Grows. Then we have two standalone books. My Dearest Emma, a series of love letters written between an engaged Amish couple, and Susanna’s Christmas Wish, finishes out the year with one of the sweetest love stories I’ve written. It’s all listed at www.eicherjerry.com  

To learn more about the Amish of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties in New York, read Jerry’s Little Valley Series, and The Amish Doll by yours truly ;) Get some hot cocoa, because you’ll be cold!

.

                                   

                    

Inside “Katie Bylers” Amish Greenhouses in Smicksburg, PA

Many of you have read my book, Knit Together: An Amish Knitting Novel. One of the main characters in Katie Byler, and readers are very taken with her. Well, Katie's real name is Lydia, and she's as sweet and true to her Amish ways as her fictional character, Katie. And, she has two greenhouses, just like in the book. In May they're bursting with colors and customers. Take your shoes off, like the Amish who walk barefoot all summer, and walk inside “Katie’s” greenhouse. (To actually go there, it’s on Wilson Road in Smicksburg, PA.)

One greenhouse is for vegetables, although hanging baskets of flowers are everywhere. Right now, May 2, vegetables aren't ready to be put in gardens in Western PA. There's still a chance of frost. Most gardeners plant on Memorial Day Weekend.

Notice the green hose on the gravel pathway off to the right. 

Water in ponds dug on higher ground is gravity fed into the greenhouses.

 Lydia's heater makes this greenhouse snug and warm in February

when she starts all her plants from seeds.

 Lydia uses anything for a planter. English customers like old Amish workboots or old tea kettles. Amish folk drop off all kinds of things for her to use.

 Lydia is quite the business woman. I've seen her supply catelogy and she deals with "English" distributors, but if she sees it cheaper at the same quality, she makes changes. These white hanging baskets she purchases by the truckload ;)

 Here's my little dog, Beatrix, on a gravel path down cold frames,

used to protect plants from cold weather.

A cold frame up-close.

I didn't buy anything today from Lydia because I only had my debit card. If you plan to visit Lydia, you'll need cash or a check...a gut check Lydia always says with a smile. If you feel sorry for Lydia after reading this, thinking she is one exhausted woman, well, she has lots of help from her 60+ nieces and nephews....last count.

Monday is Wash Day in Amish Country



Notice the deer hiding behind the bush ;)

It wasn’t long ago that every woman knew the saying:

Monday: Wash Day

Tuesday: Ironing Day

Wednesday: Sewing Day

Thursday: Market Day

Friday: Cleaning Day

Saturday: Baking Day

Sunday: Day of Rest

I’m not saying Laura Ingalls Wilder knew this; my mother and other ladies said it when I was a kid running around the neighborhood in the 1960’s. But when I go to Amish country, I do see more laundry hung on Mondays.

I asked my friend, Barb, mother of nine, how she washes her clothes. She said they use boiling water in a large pot and “swoosh” the clothes around. I immediately thought of my grandma who came from rural Italy. She washed clothes the same way, and when she got a ringer washer, it was her emancipation day.

Most Amish use ringer washer, powered by a generator. But as I sat in Barb’s house asking her about laundry day, she was very relaxed. Her teenage daughters were boiling water to wash dishes. They added to the conversation, since they did a lot of the washing. Once again, I’m taken back. They have such willingness and cheerfulness about work. I know women who are still washing their college age “kids” clothes.

So, when you go into Amish country and see the lines of laundry, don’t think there’s one tired Amish mom in there doing it all. It’s a group activity and by the responses of other Amish women, something they enjoy. They do admit they don’t like hanging clothes in the winter. Yes, they hang them year round. The clothes are literally ‘freeze-dried”.

Another thing that amazes me is how clean they keep their clothes. When Amish men worked on our house, I have to admit, I didn’t drive them home unless all the windows were down. The odor of “hard work” was upon them, and I couldn’t breathe. But these same clothes were worn again and they smelled zestfully clean. I give Amish women of all ages a lot of credit for taking care of the men’s work clothes.

Many Amish use their front porches to hang laundry.

 

Pulleys are attached to trees.

 

My friend's house has more than one pulley. Click picture for better view.

What do the Amish do without Television?

I’ll never forget my shopping trip with Susan years ago. She was in her mid 20’s and I wasn’t much older. Our trip consisted of a trip from Cherry Creek to a quaint, little town only seven miles away. Randolph had a variety store, full of cooking utensils, crafts, and just about everything imaginable.

Susan walked around in amazement, taking delight in everything from new pot holders to cross-stitch patterns. I looked around…bored and impatient. I kept thinking of how deprived Susan was. I mean, she acted like she was in a major store in the city. She slowly picked up things and just stared at them.

A long hour later, after she got the things on her list, we drove back to her place. The whole way, I held my tongue. But when the ten minute ride was up, I just looked at Susan and sighed. “What do you do for fun?” But I was thinking, Susan, you are so deprived! You need to get out more!

Susan looked at me confused. “I don’t know. Lots of things.”

I almost blurted out, Milk cows? Feed chickens?

“I love to watch birds. You know we raise white doves, right?” Susan asked.

“Yes, but….WHAT DO YOU DO WITHOUT TELEVISION?” There, I did it. I had the nerve to ask an Amish person this bottled up question.

Susan looked at the white doves that swooped around her barn. “Well, we like to visit. I have lots of girlfriends, and we get together at least once a week to make some kind of craft.”

My heart sunk. Friends? I’d seen large groups of Amish women on front porches, just sitting and talking. I, on the other hand, had four kids that I homeschooled and was out four nights a week to violin, piano, karate, and dance lessons. Yep, each child had their own talent and a night that took me away from doing things with friends. Actually, I only had a few close friends at church.

“Do you have lots of friends, Susan?” I asked.

“Jah, and so many cousins, I keep losing track of the number. Then there’s nieces and nephews…”

My family lived in the Greater Pittsburgh Area, and I longed to live near them. But my husband’s job was in NY and we made the best of it.

“So, Susan, what else besides friends?”

“I love to read. I read a lot.”

Another touchy spot. I love to read too, and took a book and read a few pages while waiting for one of my kids to finish a lesson.

“And we spend lots of time as a family…”

Okay, Susan was hitting a real nerve now. Being away so much at night, I rarely saw my husband. He worked seventy hours a week…but we caught up on the weekends, I kept telling myself. But it wasn’t true. Our marriage was wilting due to lack of water and sunshine, just like a plant.

Susan looked at me in pity. “I can show you lots of other things we do. Work frolics are fun.”

I told her I had to run….clock was ticking and the babysitter needed paid. She took her bags and told me to come back anytime to chat. She wasn’t busy.  

On the ride home, something snapped in me. Our lives were revolving around two things; our kids and television. My elderly neighbors tried to tell me my kids could all take piano or…maybe nothing. When they were kids, there was no such thing as a private lesson.

So, I talked to my husband, and he smiled so much, I thought he was going to scream “Touchdown!” Someone had finally gotten through to me that my kids wouldn’t die if they didn’t have lessons. Our kids wouldn’t die if we actually put our relationship first instead of them.

So we pulled the plug on the television and canceled lessons. The kids didn’t even mind, saying they’d have more free time. They weren’t as addicted to the television as I was, because I didn’t let them “waste their lives” watching it. I went cold turkey and it was hard. But I started to see my day was suddenly much longer. I had time to read and visit friends. I got more involved in our church, and volunteered to help with the teens. Tim and I got out our guitars and sang together again.

A year later, I saw a television on in a waiting room at the doctor’s office. I just gawked. It was so corny. So unrealistic. So hyped up. It didn’t portray real life at all. I knew that, because I actually now had one!  

My kids are now in their twenties and thank me for limiting television and not having any electronic games when they were young. They have so many good childhood memories that are real, not living their lives through someone else. That’s how the Amish view television. They wonder why people watch other people live, but don’t live themselves.

I’m so grateful for Susan and the wake-up call I got the day we went shopping. My husband and I are so happily married, since we “water” our relationship often because… we don’t watch television. We have a flat screen and a DVD library, but it’s hardly ever on. We’re too busy living.

Do the Amish have Non-Amish Friends? Are they friendly with people who aren’t Amish?

“The Amish are as varied as the flavors of ice cream,” someone once told me, and I believe it’s true. Some are very friendly to us “outsiders”, but some will avoid any contact, making you feel like you carry a contagion. I’ve received the right hand of fellowship and the cold shoulder. But to answer this often asked question, yes, the Amish do have English, sometimes called Yankee, Non-Amish friends. I’d like to share my story, and then give you some helpful ways to befriend an Amish person yourself.

When I lived in Upstate NY, I was immediately drawn to the Amish and a friend of mine took me around and introduced me to a few families. They were friendly to her, but looked at me with suspicion. I was quite turned off at first; no one wants to be treated like one of the lepers in the movie, Ben Hur. And that’s how I felt for a while, and that the Amish were just plain stuck up.

But they had huge families and good advice on how to live off the land. So, I went back to an Amish woman my friend introduced me to, and asked for a recipe for granola. I told her I had four young children and needed cheap, healthy recipes. The woman started to beam; Amish women  take great pride…oops….not a bad pride but a good one…in their culinary skills. So she gave me a few recipes. I wanted to learn to can and preserve, so she told me to go to Hershberger's Variety and ask Harry and Katie and further questions.   

So, I took my four little kids to visit Harry, and they loved the store, with the many coloring books, marbles, chalk, jacks, jump rope….I could go on. And Harry took a real shine to my kids. Actually, Harry and, Katie, his wife welcomed our soon to be weekly visits because Harry was a paraplegic. His story is told in Knit Together: An Amish Knitting Novel. It’s my first book, and it had to be about Harry. His buggy was hit as a young father and Amish built him a variety store so he’d have an income. He made quilts, saying “I can use my hands,” with a thankful heart. I became very close to this family, even being asked into the Amish co-op, by their sponsorship. (You can’t get in unless asked by an Amish person.)

Well, this relationship went on for a long while. I took Harry’s quilts to festivals and he even offered to teach my children German when they needed a second language, since they were homeschooled. But, we moved back home after fourteen years of being in New York. Back home to Western PA. And Harry and Katie’s bishop did not allow them to write to me. It was very upsetting, to say the least, since Amish are devoted writers.

But since there’s a settlement not far from my place in PA, I went off the beaten path in Smicksburg to meet some of the Amish. Going to their many stores where women sell baked goods to quilts, crafts, or have greenhouses, I found them extremely friendly. But, “Granny Weavers” (she’s a main character in Amish Knitting Circle and wishes to be anonymous) took me by surprise. Her warmth and openness was unique, and I loved her. (See post on “Inside Granny Weaver’s Quilt Shop) When I told her I was upset that Harry and Katie couldn’t write, she swatted at the air in disgust and said, “That’s ridiculous. I’ve had Englishers stay overnight in my house.” She went on to tell me she knew Harry and Katie through circle letters. And her granddaughter is married to one of Harry and Katie’s nephews. So she’s told me any news about my friends in New York over the past ten years. I’d tell her how my kids are doing and Harry and Katie I assume got word, through Granny.  

Back to this blog; taking a long trip down memory lane. Well, the more Amish I met in Smicksburg , like Lydia, (Katie Byler in Knit Together) it was like I was “in” since I was accepted as a trusted English friend by Harry and Katie and word got around. I can only compare it to being accepted into an Italian Club. If you’re born Italian, you’re in. If you’re recommended by an Italian and not Italian, you can still get in. So, the Amish in Smicksburg have opened up to me and befriended me because of a solid trusting relationship with Harry and Katie.

As you can see, there are different “orders” of Amish. The ones in New York are Troyer Amish, and not as friendly to outsiders, even though they have non-Amish friends. There are some groups like the Swartzentruber Amish, who my Amish friends feel are just “plain strange”. They’re as standoffish as they come. I wouldn’t get along with them either, since they don’t even plant flowers or keep their houses looking nice since it shows “vanity”. They also ignore PA health laws, letting their outhouses flow freely into PA State Lands or even sources of public drinking water.

If you want to meet an Amish person, and possibly be their friend, here’s what I suggest. Erik Wesner was here on the blog, (see former posts) and I became more familiar with his website www.amishamerica.com He has a state-by-state list of Amish settlements that he keeps updated. Here’s the link. http://amishamerica.com/amish-state-guide/. You’ll be surprised how many states the Amish live in now. Go to one of the settlements and don’t go toa tourist store, but travel the back roads. You’ll see many signs to all kinds of craft stores, bakeries etc. Be a customer and give them your business. Visit a few times, maybe ask for a recipe at first since this is non-threatening. Then ask if they’d like to be pen pals or if they know of someone who would. The Amish love to write letters and have English pen pals. If you live close by, offer to drive them to Wal-Mart. Oh, how they love Wal-Mart. They also need rides to doctor’s appointments and are always so thankful.

If you have an Amish friend and can add to this post, please feel free. And if you become a trusted English friend by reading this post, I’d love to hear your story, and possibly post it. Please contact me through my main website at www.karenannavogel.com

Extreme Home Makeover....With the Help of Amish Friends

We bought our century old farmhouse fifteen years ago, and with the help of the Amish, the exterior got a facelift. I don't have all the pictures, as the Amish didn't want many taken, but the ones they allowed me to take tell a story.


 First the team of four had to take off the ugly tan siding and front porch. The porch was very large and I wanted more of a cottage-style look. Wanted something Jane Austen would feel at home in, and my daughter and friends who like to watch Pride & Prejudice or Emma over and over again...

So, Noah, on the left, came up with a plan. He said he always admired those "little peaked porches" the English were allowed to have. I wasn't sure if it would look right, but he assured me it would. So here he is with brother-in-law, Joe, framing my "Pemberly" porch, all the while biting my nails that it's not going to look right. But Noah told me he could "see it" already. Glad he did......

Here's Noah deep in thought...not sure if we're doing the right thing......nails almost gone. In the background is a small greenhouse they built a few years ago, that's attached to our two car garage.

Believe it or not, Noah and I went to Lowes and he picked "fancy" railings for the porch. Again, I'm thinking we made a mistake, until her put them up. So, I had him look at the door I picked before purchasing. "Not fancy enough," he said. "Go for the etched glass." I thought it wouldn't match, wanting a cottage door, but a real cottage door started at $2,000.00...I settled for the one in stock Noah assured me would look as good...(only $450.00)



Okay, we're making some progress. They built an addition on the side. Now I planned on a tiny one to match the little sunroom off to the left. Noah scratched his head and said, "Why would you do that for? Why not have a big addition? Doesn't cost that much more." He was right....but I wasn't sure if it would look right. I like small houses, and was confused. Well, hubby wanted a bigger addition with a fireplace. The Amish built this 15x25 addition at a quarter the cost a contracter would have charged. It took all summer, as we built it as we had the cash (Dave Ramsey freaks). Instead of  being put off  by this, the Amish pat us on the back for our frugality.

The house today. Noah moved to New York for cheaper land. He sold us his 15 acres for what he paid for it, since he could never make profit off of a friend. Actually, he sold it cheaper to us than another Amish family. It took two years to complete "This Old House" but I miss hearing the Amish singing in German outside. They also came to work with a "joke for the day". Need to build something else. ;)

The porch Noah could visually see even before it was built. He confided in me that he wished he could have gone to college to be an architect, but being Amish was more important to him.

I think Noah and Joe had the most fun putting up the chimney.

They put a new porch on the back of the house. We've had many wunderbar gut talks with the Amish, because before we remodeled the outside of our house, they built us a barn.....

But that's another story......