Monday ~ Wash Day

March 16

By the time I lifted the dark green shade on my bedroom window and squinted out at the morning light, Katie already had one line of wash stretched across the driveway.  The clouds were still heavy and threatening but last night's rain seemed to have disappeared and a light breeze had replaced the freezing wind.

 
When we went out to visit the cows, Kathryn had filled a set of lines near their front door.  Kathryn is their youngest child and still lives at home. She hasn't joined church yet and has a boyfriend who hasn't either. He drives a car. Katie's sincere hope is that they will both join church and then he'll get rid of the car and settle down. Kathryn is a sweet, hardworking girl. She said that they don't only wash on Mondays but also Wednesday and Friday or Saturday. She helps run her mom's quilt shop when Katy's out shopping for fabric, etc.  As we talked, my eyes wandered to the towels she had hung out. They were absolutely threadbare. I had thought the towels in the guesthouse were reasonably nice but a little worn. But now, by comparison, I could see that they had given their very best.

When we slid the heavy barn door open and took a deep breath of fresh air, we saw that Katie was outside, checking to see if some of the clothes were dry. We sneaked a picture of her (she gave us permission in advance) with her head bobbing along just above the clothes.

By afternoon, she had a line of pants behind my bedroom. I observed that Michael's somewhat worldly pants seemed to be separate from Chris' traditional Amish ones. Michael is 25, has not joined church yet and drives a car. He lives at home but often goes away for weeks on jobs. He's in a gazebo building business with a couple other brothers.

Late afternoon we drove toward Lancaster. As we slowly drove, keeping an eye out for buggies and wagons on the narrow roads, we observed bright lines of clothes waving in the breeze at nearly every farm.

A farmer slowly rumbles toward town in his open wagon.

Katie's recently widowed sister-in-law pruning her grape arbor as her clothes flap on the line.

 On the way to town we passed an Amish cemetery. We were intrigued with how close together the stone markers are.

We passed a couple of Amish schools. One was right near the road and had bars over the window. Children of all ages were streaming down the road, clutching their lunch pails and wearing high-visibility vests. Boys had their straw hats pulled down on their heads and girls their black cool-weather bonnets.

Amish boys on the way home from school

Amish children heading home from school

At Kauffman's, I was able to get a picture of a common means for Amish transportation among the Lancaster Amish. A scooter – which is really a cross between a bicycle and a kick scooter. We saw even older men riding scooters. If I understood correctly, Lancaster Amish do not use bicycles at all. 

Amish scooter

Some of their rules and regulations seem silly but most of them have a logical explanation. Their goal in all is to keep a tight family and community that lives simply and loves and respects one another. A wonderful goal, really.

My room at Katie's