The Simple Life

When we told family and friends that when we retired we wanted to be full time Rvers, we got a lot of shocked looks and I'm sure a few comments wondering if we were crazy. (Some of them may still think we are crazy!!) Most people couldn't believe that we were going to sell our house, get rid of most of our personal belongings and hit the road. For us this represents a simpler life. For over two years now, we have made our 40 foot fifth wheel home. Of course, we still have air conditioning, a microwave oven, two flat screen tv's and a king size bed.

This week we spent a day in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. This area has one of the largest Amish populations in the country. It is these people that really have a simpler life. They live their lives with no electricity, no automobiles and without many of the modern conveniences that most of us couldn't imagine living without.

We started our tour taking a buggy ride through the area and visited a working dairy farm.

Yes Jen, we saw lots of cows!!

As we arrived at the barn, several of the children ran in and started climbing the haystacks. They were of course dressed in the simple manner of the Amish. I was surprised that they didn't mind having their pictures taken. I was under the impression that this was forbidden, but no one told us not to, so we took some pictures of them.




Our Amish guide explained how the farm worked and showed us the tools they use to milk the cows. It was here that I started to become a skeptic about the Amish life style. They don't believe in using electricity or drive automobiles, however, they have no problem using a milking machine that is run by a diesel generator... They also store the milk in a large cooling tank again run with the diesel generator.

We saw the plow that is being pulled by four to six horses to plow their fields. But then we saw the rolled bales of hay wrapped in plastic. It seems that they hire someone outside of their community to do this for them in the fall....





Not being timid, I did question our guide about this. It seems that while they do try to keep with the simpler way of life, they are not opposed to embracing some things that will make their lives easier. Basically it comes down to how quickly will they embrace changes. Where most of us in mainstream America are excited about trying out the newest gadgets as soon as they hit the market, the Amish are slow to make changes in their lifestyle. Something that may have been considered taboo to do twenty five years ago, may start to be accepted by the Amish people today. They will ride in cars, just not drive them. They have indoor plumbing. They heat their houses and have hot water by using propane. They'll use a phone if it's for business or an emergency. They just take life in the slow, slow, slow lane.

There is a peace and serenity when you see the Amish living their lives.  Watching the farmers leading their team of horses while plowing the fields.  Seeing two young Amish boys race their horse and buggy around a track. The memories of childhood when everyone hung their wash on the line to dry.





The smell of fresh air while gazing across the well kept farms and rolling hills. I'm sure we all can remember a time in our lives when the clock ticked a little bit slower. Maybe that's really not such a bad thing.