Thursday, August 09, 2007

Corn, Buggies and Camp Birdhouse

W: My apologies - I've been hogging all the blog space while we're on the road, but D promises to share her motherly insights on airplane and road trips with teething 6 month old twins in one of her travel review posts early next week. Promise. Until then I'll keep banging out some thoughts from the road.

During the first part of the trip, we headed to rural Indiana to visit Grandma and Grandpa at what is now called "Camp Birdhouse." Last fall, my mom and her husband Steve got the bug for living the Rural Life and put thought to action. I admit that I was skeptical about the move at first, but my skepticism was doused after hearing how happy my mom is living in the country.

And when I say country, I mean it. Corn, pigs, soy beans, and the Amish folks. Yeah, that's right, the Amish. In fact, during a summer thunderstorm on Monday, an Amish fella rode by our house in his horse-drawn buggy, sopping wet, smiling, his wide-brimmed straw hat held with hand so he could see, his other hand holding the reins.

That afternoon, after the storm, we loaded up the Deuce and headed to the Amish market down the road to buy fresh corn, tomatoes, and cantaloupes. While we were at the market, the Deuce met Ellen and Helen who are identical twins in an Amish family (numbers 6 & 7 out of 15). Country culture, indeed, and my mom's new community had it in, ahem, spades.

Quick aside: Since I'm a bit of a foodie, I want to coin a trend: If "Buy Local" is the new "Buy Organic," then "Buy Amish" is coming soon. Not only do the Amish farm organically, they don't use one ounce of fossil fuel to produce their crops. Talk about environmentally sound farming! When we arrived, the Amish merchants were out of corn, but they assured us that all we needed to do was wait around for 5 minutes because a cart was coming back from the field with a freshly picked bushel. D and I agreed - it was the best we've ever had, the kernels jumped into our mouths.

D and I also agreed that we're exceptionally lucky to have Camp Birdhouse as one of our family outposts. It was a perfect location for the family reunion on Sunday where we were able to introduce the Deuce to so many people that love them so dearly - from their great-grandma and great-aunt and uncle, to their aunts and uncles, and all their wonderful cousins. We certainly see many rich and fertile returns, and hopefully soon. Thanks Grandma and Grandma for everything...

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Posted by Walker Lockhart @ 8:02 PM

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Walker:
The pictures are amazing! You are a very good photographer! And as for the Amish, I grew up in rural PA where there are lots of small amish communities. In fact, the butcher shop (yes, I did say butcher) across my parents house just had to install a hitching post! I think my twins will enjoy visiting their grandparents in the county too!

Posted by Blogger Krissy @ Friday, August 10, 2007 1:36:00 PM #
 

Krissy's right, your photos are awesome! And it doesn't hurt to have such gorgeous subjects!

Good for you for traveling with infant twins! My philosophy is still, if we can't do it now, when... so we keep trying until it's too rough, and so far, so good.

Posted by Blogger Eva @ Saturday, August 11, 2007 7:46:00 AM #
 
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