A Natural Home

Yesterday, I was supposed to meet a young man who wanted to make case goods like toddler beds, crib sides, and a shoji screens.  I had told him I would be over there at 11 am. 

The last time I saw Atley, the young amish man, he told me not to go over the creek if it was below 10 degrees.  I took him at his word. They even had a little sign before you reached Owl Creek that read NO CARS.  Fine, I did not like going over that creek when it was 90 degrees outside, let alone 4.

So as I was talking to Vernon and Ella the couple who makes our organic mattresses, Ammon, Atley’s dad pulled up in a buggy.

He got out and ask if I wanted a lift over the creek.  My son Ben (who is 10) was with me and asked where he was supposed to sit. I said, he could sit on my lap.  So Here we were climbing into the plain black buggy, with the well fed, hairy work horse ready and anxious to get moving.  We climbed up the buggy, and it was slippery as there were these small 3 inch round steps that were covered in snow and ice.  Ben had a bit of trouble climbing up, but we got all settled in.

The snow was falling and there were no cars on the road.  All you could hear was the jingle of the horses tack and the bump bump bump of the buggy going down the road.  We approached the creek and you could see huge chunks of ice, about 10-15 inches in diameter.  The buggy and horse struggled just a tiny bit over the ice and thru the break in the low riding creek, but we got thru with not too much trouble.

Despite the snow and the wind, and the 4 degree weather, it was a lovely way to travel.  It was pretty warm in the buggy, with the buggy blanket and the vinyl cover that snapped onto the side of the buggy.  You could see the world go by at a slower pace.  When I got off the buggy after we finished the ride, I told Ammon that the buggy was a lovely way to travel and that I thanked him for the ride.

All the way home I traveled at about 20 miles per hour, due to the amount of snow on the roads and the wind.  I thought about how much easier it was to traverse thru the snow in a buggy.

I had taken a buggy ride before, but never when it was cold outside. I do not dream of saying I know what it is like to be Amish, but it was nice to take it easy and take a slower pace cross over a frozen creek and travel down a snow covered road while seeing and hearing things that I never paid much attention to before.

Thank you Ammon for sharing.