What it's like Having Amish Neighbors

I bet most people can't say they have Amish neighbors. They can't say that the neighbor's vehicle of choice is a horse and buggy. They can't say their neighbor's have no electric, telephone, computer, etc...

They probably can say their neighbor's are interesting folks, and nice to talk to. They can say that if you needed someone to give you a hand, they would be right there. They can also say if their neighbor's had extra vegetables in their garden, they would share.

For over 30 years, our property abutted up to the Wengerd's corn field. We can easily say they were the hardest working folks we knew. It was always amazing that despite the weather, and we mean it could be 95 degrees and no air moving, they were out weeding their extensive gardens. The only thing we could do to be a bit helpful was to offer a large cold drink to them as they got close to our yard. And believe us when we say it was never refused. Another thing was their style of dress, even in the garden was the long dresses and heavy tie work shoes, despite dreadful temperatures.

The sameness they experience are things such as differences between their teenage children and them. Sometimes resulting in the teenage child moving out and living on another Amish farm. The sadness is there for the mom just as it would be for anyone else. They experience hard times and money issues just as we do. If they are dependent on a summer crop to bring in extra money and the crop is not productive, then they too find themselves in a bind like the rest of us. They may not experience car trouble, but they do have health issues with their driving horses and they also experience behavior problems in the animals from time to time.

Just as we enjoy social functions, they do too. Church is usually held at a different Amish home every Sunday. You can see buggies coming from all directions to attend. This is usually a day long event where the lady and men folk catch up on the week's news. With having no phones, they do have quite a networking plan. It was not unusual to get a call from an Amish man from a nearby pay phone asking us to relay a message over yonder to a sister or brother about a critically ill family member or a sudden death. From that message, alot of times the receiver would then relay it to someone else.

Another interesting fun fact is sometimes we were asked to put a large bucket of store bought ice cream in our chest freezer for the Amish guests they were having over later that evening. Then they would send one of the smaller children over to retrieve it later on. Sometimes the Amish teenagers get abit radical with racing the buggies. You won't see it often but you will on occasion see them side by side, going full speed ahead, to see who has the best "horsepower".