Posts by Saloma Furlong
Amish Conference 2016, Part 3
I now turn my attention to the plenary session by Professor Mark Louden from the University of Wisconsin called Continuity and Change in Pennsylvania Dutch. He has made the dialect of the Amish a focus of study. He actually speaks it better than I do, and I am (was) a native speaker. He began his…
Read MoreAmish Conference 2016, Part 2
Claudia Lillinger, myself, Sabrina Völz First I want to announce that Sabrina Völz has posted the second half of the interview with me on the American Studies Blog. Her introduction to the interview and the questions are quite evocative. I hope you’ll enjoy the interview. Now I want to return to the conference this past…
Read MoreAmish Conference 2016, Part 1
I traveled back from the Amish Conference at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania yesterday. I was so glad I attended the conference. There were so many good presentations that stimulated good conversations and debates, that it is hard for me to know where to begin to describe it. Perhaps I will start in the beginning, as…
Read MoreInterview on American Studies Blog
A new interview was published today on the American Studies Blog. It’s called “Art Meets Life: An Interview with Ex-Amish Author Saloma Miller Furlong. Sabrina Völz, from Leuphana University in Lüneberg, Germany, is the author of this blog. She asked me for an interview a few months back. I look forward to meeting her at…
Read MoreDonald Trump and the Amish
I have been reflecting on how little I was aware of what was going on in presidential elections when I was still living among the Amish. Sometimes I almost wish I could tune out this election the way I used to then. Then I discovered the story about Amish PAC. I realized that wishing myself…
Read MoreKeepsakes
I have been focused on spring cleaning. I don’t clean the inside and outside of my cupboards very often, but during this week of rain we’ve had, I did. I could not wash the windows inside and out, so I tackled the cupboards instead. It was a satisfying feeling, wiping out that last drawer. In…
Read MoreWhat Do Amish and Kenyan Women Have in Common?
A few months ago, I received an unexpected package in the mail. It was one of my faithful readers, who sent me a book as a gift, called Footsteps by Kirsten Johnson. It has taken me a while to get around to reading it, but I am so glad I did. I knew nothing about…
Read MoreThe Crocuses are Blooming at the Bridgeside Retreat
Last autumn I planted several dozen white and purple crocus bulbs next to the walkway and around the mailbox. When other crocuses in the area started blooming, along with our daffodils and the irises were growing, I thought the crocuses were not going to bloom. Then last week they started poking through the ground and…
Read MoreBook Review: Simple Pleasures by Marianne Jantzi
I breathed deeply and reveled in the beautiful morning. The vehicles hummed by on the pavement, the sun burned the mist off the river, and the birds busily ate breakfast. ~ Marianne Jantzi If you are interested in Amish life and you are tired of those Amish fiction books produced by the mass market, then…
Read MoreA Peaceful Pause
Like many others, I am more engaged in this presidential campaign year than I have ever been before. I won’t start a whole debate about who is the best prospect we have because I know this year people have very strong feelings one way or another. Nor will I point fingers at the people who…
Read More