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Wearing Amish
The buzz around the American Experience film showing has been fun. Now it’s back to work. David and I are busily writing the second book. Several weeks ago, we had written up to the point when I was taken back to the Amish community, after spending four months of freedom in Burlington, Vermont. I knew…
Read MoreA Day in the Life of an Amish Person, Part III
This is the conclusion of the story I wrote many years ago of a day in my life when I was twelve. Enos asked one of the eighth grade boys to close the curtain. This curtain was made of heavy canvas and was faded green. It hung from a rod and would be pulled together and…
Read MoreA Day in the Life of an Amish Person, Part II
This is a continuation of the story I wrote of a day in my life when I was in seventh grade. The station wagon pulled in the lane when we were in various stages of putting on our coats, scarves, bonnets, gloves, and boots. We grabbed our lunchboxes and hurried out. We piled into the…
Read MoreA Fond Farewell to Stephen Scott
I’d like to send my condolences to the family members, friends, and colleagues of Stephen Scott, who died last week. You can click here for his obituary. I got to know Stephen Scott when I was doing my internship at the Young Center. I could usually count on him when I needed help with anything,…
Read MoreSilent Night…
Warm wishes for a Joyful Christmas from my home to yours. Here are a few images of our Christmas this year. Don’t you love our scraggly little tree? I’m not actually sure how that made it home with us, but here it is! David made this beautiful cherry shelf for spices for our kitchen. What…
Read MoreMore Answers to Your Questions
Sara asked: If you could change one thing about your leaving, what would it be? Sara, this is a difficult question, partly because I don't know if you mean the things I could have changed, or what circumstances I wish would have been different. So, I will answer this in two parts. I don't think…
Read MoreAnnouncements: Radio Interview and a Craft Show
For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be on the radio. The first time I was interviewed was with Daria Fisk on a local radio station here in the Pioneer Valley soon after we moved here in 2008. Since then I’ve had about half a dozen interviews. I had one…
Read MoreA Mennonite Wedding and Apple Butter Festival
After Iowa, David and I drove to Missouri to see my Mennonite cousins, aunt, and uncle. We went to the reception of my cousin Martha's youngest daughter, Miriam's wedding. And I thought Amish weddings were big! Here are some pictures taken at the wedding: Three-hundred people attended the wedding A glimpse of the bride…
Read MoreScenes from Iowa
I did two talks in Iowa — the first one on Coralville, the second in Independence. There was a downpour at the time of the talk in Coralville, which resulted in three inches of water in the parking lot at the library. I imagine more people would have showed up if the weather had been…
Read MoreMinnesota Nice
Neither David nor I had ever been to Minnesota, so we were both looking forward to stopping there on our book tour. We drove into Minnesota from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, as I mentioned in my earlier post. I spoke at two venues in Minnesota, one in Owatonna, the other in Spring Grove. On our way…
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