After casting my ballot on Tuesday a day trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio had been planned. Sugarcreek is known as the gateway to Amish country. To quote the website, "As you leave the hurry of the highway behind you'll certainly sense why the Amish families that arrived in the 1800s found this place as appealing as the sun after a storm. The fertile Ohio countryside promised both the freedom to practice their faith-based way of life and the providence to farm as their forefathers had before them. Using traditional methods rooted in reverence and stewardship, many industrious Amish farmers still put shoulder to harness, sowing and harvesting crops behind teams of hard-working draft horses."
We had a wonderful day. It was warm, the sky was blue, and the people were friendly and waved wherever we went. It was a very peaceful day.
Amish Country meant we would see lots of horses. I want to share some of those scenes with you.
As you can see everyone must share the road.
A couple of boys out for an afternoon ride. The younger one seemed to be talking a mile a minute.
We saw these farmers over the way and took a sideroad to get closer. I still had to look twice. They were not picking up bales of hay; but bales of corn stalks.
If you clip-clopped on highways or trod the fields on a daily basis you too would need new shoes. This horse was waiting his turn at the local farrier. He stood there very calm as traffic passed. I was more than surprised as we traveled down a backroad seeing farm after farm when I looked across one hillside to see....camels. I kid you not. There were three. Way too far away for my camera to catch but I was thinking to myself what a great Camera Critters post that would have been!
Be sure to click on the badge at the top of my post to visit Misty and the other participants. You never know what you'll see!
Oh, how wonderful, Carletta! These photos are more than worth the wait! I love the carriage photo and the one with the corn bales.
ReplyDeletelove your photos of Amish country. Quite an experience. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm here via other poetry blog friends. I noticed in your profile that you're a retired school teacher and now an artist. We have followed similar paths in that vein.
Nice to meet you.
My one trip to Amish country was too brief. I would like the leisure to look at crafts and enjoy the farmlands.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this wonderful tour of Amish country in Ohio, Carletta. Isn't it amazing they have maintained their lifestyle after all these years?
ReplyDeletenice photos! nice-looking horses. they look like they work hard.
ReplyDeletepaz
Great pictures, Carletta!
ReplyDeleteOne day I will visit Amish country!
Those are really neat. I like to watch the Amish. We were in southern IN last year right after a pretty big snow had melted in the spring and saw the Amish out plowing their fields. I think part of my fascination with the Amish is that I can relate to what they're doing because I used to plow using a horse and had a horse drawn wagon that we used all the time.
ReplyDeleteI love the Amish pictures and the horses!! I admire this lifestyle these people have very much!
ReplyDeleteI also LOVE that, song, 'Wildfire' by Michael Martin Murphy! I have several of his albums and used to listen to this song and 'Carolina in the Pines' a lot!
Junie
Horses and a carriage on a highway, that looks so nice but also so strange !
ReplyDeleteI wonder what they use the baled cornstalks for...guess I need to google that one. Looks like a great day, I've always wanted to take a trip to Amish country.
ReplyDeleteNot something I see here in Toronto. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI played too :)
coming from PA originally, I've seem lots of Amish country. Love it. and their horses are always so well cared for.
ReplyDeletegorgeous but where is sugar Creek??Md?Va?Ohio?
ReplyDeleteCarletta: Very nice captures of the power of the Amish in their horses.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a wonderful place to visit. Your pictures capture the atmosphere perfectly.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed these interesting pictures. I would love to visit Amish country.
ReplyDeleteI loved your post. It brought back a lot of memories because I grew up not far from an Amish community in central Illinois. I always enjoyed going over there.
ReplyDeleteYou know you really have to give credit to these people, one thing about it they don't worry about the gas prices. Corn stalks? i wonder what they do with them?
ReplyDeleteThe Amish people have also lot of 'Belgian' horses, great animals
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful time you must have had being near t5he Amish! Interesting people!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Fortunately my grandson has recovered soon.
Looks like a lovely drive. Amazing about the camels. Camels seem so un-Amish, somehow, though I don't know why they should. I guess camels seem worldly to me. Funny how our minds work.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post!!! I've been to Sugarcreek, when I lived in Ohio. It is truly a special place.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. Glad you shared them. Sorry you didn't get the camels.
ReplyDeleteA way of life we are so unfamliar with here. The horses just look so lovingly cared for.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots I love to see horses they are just so beautiful.Thanks for the visit.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post. I would love to visit this part of the country someday. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVoted best Election Day results!! Awesome post, Carletta, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have two entries for CC this week!
www.twobarkingdogs.wordpress.com
www.onevintagephoto.wordpress.com
All dogs, all the time!
Very nice CC photos, Carletta. Thanks for sharing these mementos of your little jaunt. I can't imagine what camels are doing in that setting, though. Think you could make a return trip?
ReplyDeleteGiven a choice I would like to go on a horse carriage. Nice shots!
ReplyDeleteA good contrast between the carriage and the car!
ReplyDeleteLove these photos. You're a marvel with the camera :-)
ReplyDeleteThere are Amish in Parke County--the county next to us, as well as over at Arthur, Illinois where we go fairly often. I sure enjoy seeing them...and I love your pictures.
ReplyDeleteI can remember when I was a kid, we had old Bob which I wrote about at one time...he was our work horse and Neal and George both plowed with him...I can remember riding in the wagon a time or two. I can also remember my brothers taken corn to be ground into cornmeal with him.
We used to see the Amish buggies periodically in central Illinois. I really enjoyed your pictures.
ReplyDeleteFine animals that know their worth.
ReplyDeleteI quite admire these people even if I don't share their faith.
Enjoyed this...I hope to go to Amish country next summer...have been meaning to but so far haven't gotten there.
ReplyDeleteAwesome photos, I love the four-hourse team. I think the corn stalks may be used as cattle food.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, and what a beautiful horse! Thanks so much for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. We live near Amish country in PA, so it's pretty common to see them. Hubby drives by several homes and businesses every day on his way to and from work.
ReplyDeleteWe'll be back in Ohio next week.
These are really wonderful photos Carletta - what an experience that must have been. In some ways I think the Amish have got it figured out better than us.
ReplyDeleteThese are good phontos of what you call the Gateway to Amish Country. However, I would invite you to visit the darker side of this community at the Sugarcreek Auction where these "amish" horses are sold by the pound to Kill Buyers to be slaughtered for human consumption overseas. These horses are abused, starved and beaten during this auction and the long trip to slaughter in Canada in Mexico. Please visit Americans Against Horse Slaughter and www.alexbrownracing.com for more information.
ReplyDelete