Plain and Simple

Last weekend my mother, my Aunt and I had a girls weekend in "Amish Country" Pennsylvania. My personal goals for the weekend were to bond with my family, see beautiful landscapes, escape from the stresses of everyday life and....of course....shop. Well, we are girls, after all, and we do love to shop!

I first visited Amish Country when I was a little girl. My parents and grandmother took a trip and even back then I was fascinated with how simply they live. 30 years and lots of technology advances later, I am more intrigued than ever at how their values and beliefs have withstood the test of time. As someone who works in the software industry I find myself more and more wanting to pull away from technology instead of wanting to embrace it. Because of technology I am completely accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and, quite frankly, I don't want to be that accessible.

The Amish believe that "modern conveniences" can pull the family apart and so they choose not to use them. I have to agree. How often I've gone to dinner with an old girlfriend only to have her text through half the meal, only half listening to what I am saying. When I was a kid we would go outside after dinner and play until dark. Now, the kids just go up to their room and play videogames, skype with their friends or collaborate on facebook. Sigh.

Driving through the Amish farmlands was such a peaceful escape. From dawn until dark we saw men and their horses plowing the fields, women mowing the lawn and tending the gardens, and children doing age-appropriate chores or simply enjoying a ride on their foot-propelled scooters. The clop-clop sound of the horse and buggy was soothing and a sound I miss.

Of course, the Amish are well-known for their beautiful quilts. This was obviously a big draw for us. While visiting we contributed to the local economy in many areas, not the least of which was handmade quilts and fabric. High quality, brand name fabrics that sell for $10+ per yard in New England quilt shops were selling for between $3.99 and $7.99 per yard. We couldn't believe it, we thought we had struck gold. In fact, it was so overwhelming that we didn't buy nearly as much fabric as we now wish we had. I guess, we'll just have to go back and make another donation to the fine folks of Lancaster County. :-)