The best trips are often those my husband and I take on a whim. Thursday of last week, I decided to go to Hershey, Pennsylvania and then on to nearby Lancaster, home of many Amish folks. It worked out to be alot of fun, tremendously relaxing among acres of well-tended, fertile farmland in the hills of  Pennsylvania.  We were there thirty-five years ago when our children were very young and the family had a wholesome, memorable vacation. Something about the Amish, with their horsedrawn buggies and traditional, simple clothes and their famous shoo-fly pie. With their luscious Dutch cooking at many diners around the Lancaster area. We left stuffed and happy.

It was a pleasure sitting on Adirondack wooden benches Sunday morning near the pool at our motel. We sipped coffee from the Continental Breakfast and pretended to read so we could glimpse the Amish in their buggies as their horses cantered by, carrying families to one of the local Mennonite churches. 'Clickety-clop' went the heavy hooves on the asphalt road-a sound that offered comfort to the ear much like that of summer rain falling on a roof.

They are polite people and will nod in the general direction of those of us they call 'The English', meaning the non-Amish.  However, it never goes beyond minimal civility. They are a group apart,living
a lifestyle from 300 years ago. (http://www.padutchcountry.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-country/amish-lifestyle.asp) Yet, their farms are scrupulously tended and decorated. This could well be due to their community support system whereby all help each other. Theirs is a testament to their Christianity through their habit of living according to their beliefs in a quiet manner. And, yes, everyone who sees them IS watching. Very nice weekend!