H ~ Helping

The Amish seem to be known for how much they help each other. It's true they do help each other when there is a need, but it isn't every day, or every week. In fact, months can pass without the community coming together to help someone.

Gardening, canning, quilting, and almost everything is done alone with only the members of that particular household.

Hired help on the other hand is a lot more common. After a baby is born a girl will usually be hired for the next six weeks to take care of all the household duties and any other children in the family while the mother gets to relax and enjoy her new baby.

Farmers that don't have any children old enough to help with hay making and some other tasks around the farm will often hire young boys to help out.

G ~ Gelassenheit

Growing up Amish the word Gelassenheit was heard frequently. Translated to mean giving up oneself to higher authority, self-surrender, contented, calm.

Basically the opposite of individualism and self interest.

It seems to be at the core of the whole Amish belief system, and is harder to explain than I thought it would be.

I receive a lot of questions about the Amish from people wondering why they do this, but not that. And trying to figure out and make sense of the many rules applying to the Amish.

For many of those questions there really is no answer, other than Gelassenheit. To outsiders the rules make no sense, many seem to have no rhyme or reason. We were taught to practice Gelassenheit and therefore didn't question, we simply obeyed.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Besides left over Easter goodies, what's something currently kept in a basket at your house?

We have a basket filled with Buddy's favorite books in the corner of the living room.

2. 'The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.' ~Michelangelo Buonarroti 

So which one are you...the one who aims too high, or the one who aims too low? Have you ever seen The Sistine Chapel? Did you know Michelangelo's surname prior to answering this question?

I have a tendency of aiming too high.
I have never seen The Sistine Chapel, and no, I didn't know Michelangelo's surname.

3. April 7th is National Beer Day. Hmmm...wonder how that's celebrated? Do you like beer? Have a favorite? If you're not a beer drinker do you have any recipes you enjoy cooking that call for beer?

I have never tasted a beer, but I can't imagine that I'd like it. I have never made any recipes that required beer.
 

4. When did you last travel somewhere new? Tell us where? How'd it go?

This doesn't exactly qualify, but about two weeks ago we had to go see a surgeon a little over an hour away. It was our first time in that city.

It went, let's say, interesting. After parking in the parking garage we headed for the elevators and almost got run over by a nun.

5. The value of _________________________is greatly overrated.

I have been sitting here for longer than I care admit trying to come up with something that won't offend people.

It's wearying trying to be politically correct, so I'm going with that.

The value of being politically correct is greatly overrated.

6. What's a pet peeve of yours when it comes to restaurant dining?

Eating at a restaurant is such a rare occurrence that I don't really have a pet peeve.

7. It's Poetry Month...share a favorite poem, either the title, a few lines you find meaningful, or the whole kit and caboodle.

My favorite poem is actually in German. Every verse ends with, Daniel's Gott lebt heute noch.

The favorite's from my childhood are:

The Hornet's Nest
When the Frost is on the Pumpkin
Ripples

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I was looking through some older photos, and this one of Sailor giving Buddy a piggy back ride still makes me laugh.

F ~ Fabric

As summer came to an end and all the gardening and canning was over it was time to sit down and create a list of all the winter sewing projects that we wanted to get done.

First on the list was all the clothes we would need for another year.

The fabric store provided us with samples of all the fabric they had so those would be spread out over the table as we chose what colors we wanted to wear for the next year. Shades of blues and greens were the most popular, and I always chose to have a new purple dress.

Once the decisions had been made we would go buy the fabric. It helped to make the process faster, being armed with the samples we wanted and already knowing how many yards of each color we wanted.

We used to try having matching shirts for each of the boys, so that meant at minimum twelve yards of fabric of each color.

It used to be fun coming home and fitting all the fabric into the cupboards in our sewing room. It always felt as if we were now officially ready for winter to arrive.

Once all the clothes were made that we needed we would use the fabric scraps to make quilts, and other fun projects.

E ~ Easter Monday

The four day Easter weekend used to drag on for what seemed like much more than four days. It used to be a relief when Easter Monday rolled around and you knew the end was in sight and life would soon be back to normal.

Of the four days, Easter Monday was my favorite. Though we weren't allowed to work, it wasn't a day of fasting. If we weren't invited to someone's house, and didn't have anyone invited to our house we children would often go hiking.

A well known hiking/biking trail is near our house. It doesn't see a lot of use by the Amish, but with today being Easter Monday I expect to see a number of groups of Amish youth passing our house to go hiking.