A Natural Home

Last night about 7.00 pm I was still at Alvin and Susie’s house taking photos of a bed that Alvin had just made.

He was proud of the bed (but of course he wouldnever admit that) he had made, and frankly it looked good.  He was telling me that 8 years he had made glue ups and pieces for David (another amish guy we deal with) and he had never put together a bed in his own shop. He really enjoyed seeing the finished product together.  His wife Susie was all excited about doing more stuff for us, which was cool, as I really like Alvin’s work.

Anyway, I was kevetching about having to drive back into town and put together a bed, where it was heavy and I had no one else to help me with it. I was not looking forward to it at all, but I had 3 people who were expecting photos of the bed and wanted to see it.

Alvin told me he would come help me. I was floored. So we drove into town and talked. He talked about how the Amish guys around here are so concerned about price and even David whom he works with will go to Holmes county and get things from other guys instead of buying stuff here.  I agreeded with him that I thought that was short sided and frankly stupid. David was working on the assumption that selling a bed he did not make was a good thing, but it only make him a little more obsolete every time he does this. 

I learned a little more about the community while we talked and put this bed together. I told him how I really liked the area and wanted to support this area. There are no jobs here and the area needs to income, and he agreed.  He said he had been in the community for 26 years and he enjoyed the area too.  The land was good, the people were good and there were possibilites here.  Frankly, there are possibilites anywhere if you just look for them.

It is more than just working here, it is creating something worthwhile that you can pass on to your kids. That is what I am doing with A Natural Home and that is what Alvin is doing. He told me that his girls would complain that they were cutting up things, or turning things that they had not idea what they were, and they really enjoyed putting something together that they all made together.  It hit me, that it was not just Alvin in the shop, it was his older twin girls, his young boys (they swept the shop and helped out with thing - no machinery of course), and his wife Susie who sanded and then tung oiled the pieces for us.  It was a family event. 

In this day and age where we barely see each other, even over dinner, what a change to be able to create something together that is more than just a wave as we pass in the kitchen….

Alvin and his assistance in putting together that bed, helped me see even more that what we are doing is building a community and supporting more than just a man, but a family.