Sunday night Amish singing or rumspringa? The night we got run off the road by rowdy Amish youth!

Have you ever had a head-on collision with a horse? I saw my life flash before me as our Jeep veered off the road to avoid a chestnut stallion at dusk last night. Where’s the headless horseman? I thought, gripping the dashboard as my husband yelled at the horse and my daughter and her husband, in the backseat screamed, “What the heck?” in unison.

As our car stopped, an Amish youth wearing sunglasses waved from his buggy as his horse charged forward. Stunned, other buggies raced by, all driven by male teenagers wearing sunglasses,  hanging out of their buggies with a “thumbs up” sign.

We all looked at each other, and then I yelled, “Let’s follow them! They must be going to a Sunday night singing!”  

So we did. For miles, nearly ten. These Amish youth raced, passing each other for miles at about 25 miles per hour, and on dirt back roads, that’s fast. When we caught up, we pondered about a way to get back at them. Maybe try to get ahead of them, flash our hazard lights and they’d think they were being pulled over by a cop. (Our windows are tinted) Then I could interview them, telling them their story would go world-wide, which it would on my blog. They seemed like teens that wanted to show a different side of Amish life. But after ten miles, and us not being able to pass them, we decided that seeing the setting of the singing would be good info for me to write about in a novel.

Singings are held on Sunday nights, hosted by an Amish family, and they sing, hence the name. This varies so much from different Amish communities and orders that to say they only sing wouldn't be accurate. Some square dance, but that’s for another blog post. The purpose of the singing is for Amish dating to begin, the youth allowed to go at sixteen.  The guys ask to drive a girl home, sometimes starting a courtship.

Back to the story. Well, as we got closer to the singing, a mile away, we saw many girls, dressed up in more vivid colors, certainly not chore dresses.  They were walking, some arms linked, along the sides of the road. They all waved as we passed by and the girls almost seemed giddy. This continued for a mile until we came to the large Amish farmhouse. The porch was packed with Amish youth, the back porch too. It was getting dark, being almost nine o’clock, so we couldn't make out if they were separated by gender, but what was obvious was the excitement in the air.

Did we get to talk to the boys in the buggies that ran us off the road? No. They stopped a mile before getting to the singing. I begged Tim to stop the car and let me interview them. What where they doing? Cleaning up, being covered in dirt from racing? Memorizing pick-up lines? Were they even going to the singing and just racing, being out on rumspringa, their running around time?  But Tim was tired of burning rubber through back roads and was intrigued at all the girls walking alongside the road. It was one of those “Little House on the Prairie” moments. When was the last time you saw fifteen or so girls chatting with linked arms, smiling? 

Any ideas on how I can get even with these rowdy Amish youth? I have an idea who they are...It would all be good-natured fun. ;) Stop by their house and ask if they sell sunglasses in their family shop? Need some ideas ;) 

I tried to take a picture from my phone of them passing each other. This is highly brightened and contrasted, but wanted to show you all these "ruffians" LOL. Of course, my camera with a good zoom was at home! GRR!