Quiet Days

The wind whips through the trees. Off in the distance, one can hear the quiet hum of cars on the highway. There's a SUV parked in the driveway near the front porch as I drive past the woodworking shop and park in front of an old silver maple stump. A lone goose walks behind the building used for their bulk store. Their dog, mother to the puppy sitting on the front seat of my car, enjoys a moment of sun on the front porch.

I've several purposes in driving to the Amish farm on this cold February morning. I'm bringing plastic bags for reuse in their bulk store and I need to photograph the last completed quilt. I knock and I hear the usual,"Come on in," from inside the kitchen. Handing off the plastic bags, I ask if there's time to get a picture of All Jassed Up, the 76X82 inch quilt. Listed as a twin bed size quilt, it fits quite nicely on the full size bed in the first floor bedroom. Every one's inside as it is near lunchtime. A friend is visiting and sharing a plastic tub of cookies. A table in the larger room off the kitchen is covered with a half completed puzzle. Several of the daughters are at work on a quilt adjacent to the puzzle table.

On any given day that I visit, I'll see any one of the six older daughters involved in quilt making or a sewing project. One of the daughters has been working on a quilt featuring all the state birds of the United States. She sits quietly at the long kitchen table with an embroidery hoop stitching the state bird of South Carolina.

Today, the same daughter is ironing fabrics strips. I'm guessing it's part of the current quilt project. Loud barking outside draws my attention away from their work. My puppy, now eight months old, is barking at paper feed sacks waiting to go on a burn pile. Mandy Mom sits on the porch ignoring her rambunctious daughter. I step outside to shush the dog. At that moment a white van pulls up. I walk inside and they're guessing who is in the van. "Amish" says one person. Then another person chimes in with the last name of the driver. I haven't noticed anyone laying out the new quilt, but when I glance in the bedroom my eyes feast on a wildly colorful quilt with flower rosettes. "Aha," I think to myself. That's the reason for the name-"All Jassed Up ( Jazzed?). I'm guessing the name is a German dialectical difference.

Mom hands me a book that I'd lent them the day before. It's called
Prescription for Nutritional Healing. As are many Amish I've read about, the family has an avid interest in natural and organic ways. I brought the book to their attention when the Patriarch of the family mentioned an ankle problem. In return for sharing the book with them, Mom shows me a vitamin catalog with prices substantially lower than the discount stores in the area. Daily I learn about new-old time ways to simplify my life. I am grateful for the friendship and their willingness to share their lives with me.