It should be time for the Spring Auction in the Amish country of Kidron, Ohio. Years back, my brother-in-law, Johnny, had quite a side business dealing in horse drawn farm equipment. His dawn to dusk job was raising pigs and growing corn. It was a constant search but the off-season winter months gave him time to accrue the non-motorized equipment. The forgotten marvels that came an era before electricity were amazing by any measure. Johnny had a real affinity for clever vintage gadgets. One that comes to mind was an apple peeler. A hand crank turned an apple on a spindle that generated a continuous unweaving of peel in seconds.
Johnny had naive innocents that fit the Amish community but he was still an “Englishman”. He was befriended by a family that permitted him to sleep in their barn and breakfast was bought to him by one of the children. On one occasion, after years of association, he was allowed to break-bread with the family in the dining room. Tradition demanded they protect their children from the influence outsiders. A bigger threat was that one of their own would break away and then return.
My fascination with Johnny’s exposure to this community led me to witness it first hand. The Spring Auction was a rare occasion for the children to come to town and see what lay beyond the farm fence. My Nikon camera was held out of sight for fear of violating their humbleness. I stole many pictures without aim while holding the camera by my side. Many young ones noticed my sly shots and were willing victims for candid photos.
Johnny had naive innocents that fit the Amish community but he was still an “Englishman”. He was befriended by a family that permitted him to sleep in their barn and breakfast was bought to him by one of the children. On one occasion, after years of association, he was allowed to break-bread with the family in the dining room. Tradition demanded they protect their children from the influence outsiders. A bigger threat was that one of their own would break away and then return.
My fascination with Johnny’s exposure to this community led me to witness it first hand. The Spring Auction was a rare occasion for the children to come to town and see what lay beyond the farm fence. My Nikon camera was held out of sight for fear of violating their humbleness. I stole many pictures without aim while holding the camera by my side. Many young ones noticed my sly shots and were willing victims for candid photos. 
1 comment:
RogueAdventurer, your experience with other cultures helps me to feel what they are like. Although in no time, seems the cultural norms change before our eyes. Case in point was the story earlier of the African girl who was painted for several days of making herself available for marriage. She did it as part of custom, perhaps to please her mother, but she revealed she had no intention of getting married. Perhaps now she is one of the young doctors I observe in the hospitals from all over the world.
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