The  Easy Button -

The Americana Kitsch and Culture Tour

- originally posted on 6 May 2011
 

Aloha MM's,    Today we are in the state of Kentucky—bluegrass, bourbon, BBQ and horse country. Or as one answer machine message said yesterday—"I'm either cat fishin', smokin' a hog or lis'nin' to the bluegrass music. Have a blessed day." (He really said that—we are staying at his RV park tonight) Alrighty! We loved staying here with John, so friendly, like most Kentuckians. So, last night, we were tired when we got into the state of Kentucky and managed to park in the noisiest RV park this side of the black stump. Not only did it sit virtually on the freeway (of which, it seems that was a major route for all huge semi trucks to use 24/7) but also near a very active train track. Oh joy. Despite that, we had a fantastic day yesterday that reminded me of the Easy button. When we were in Modesto, Donnie donated his Easy button to me. :-) It's a big red button that says easy on it and when you press it—it says, "That was Easy!" in a game show voice. LOL. We love that button. We laughed so many times when it went off unexpectedly and we had just been doing something that, did indeed, turn out to be easy! And yesterday, it reminded me of the Easy button. We had a vague plan in the morning as to where we were going for the day. Pottering around Amish country, going to all the cutesy touristy places that looked interesting in our brochures and books. Me, hoping to catch some more really good buggy shots and some glimpses of Amish folk. What happened next though, was even better than our planned moves for the day. As we went to leave the RV park, we just 'happened' to talk to the Mennonite women there and asked her if she recommended anything to go and see in the area. After a map drawn of the best strawberry and tomato places (that wasn't quite what I meant—I guess it depends what you see as a priority in life) She said, "Oh, what day is it? Thursday. You could go up Kinrod, they have the market and auction there today and you get to see the Amish in their buggies offloading livestock alongside modern day cars and trailers." That sounded like it could be interesting, and shows what happens when you hit the easy button and go with the hints from the Universe, so off we went. We took the back roads through rolling hills, lovely green farmland, with big red barns and grain silos dotted all over the place. Very, very pretty. And in this part of the world, churches everywhere.   Being Amish country, some places had noticeably no power lines anywhere. Lovely modern homes but no electricity. I personally would take a dishwasher over say...food. So, this way of living fascinates me. It seems to be a harder way to live in some ways and yet in others, easier I'm sure. There isn't an easy button here for everyday chores though. Not called 'chores' for nothing. One of the things that stands out in my mind is the washing on the lines strung out across the yards. Now, in New Zealand, washing on lines is an everyday and unremarkable occurrence. New Zealanders only use driers when it's been raining for 5 days straight and under extreme duress. But in America, where convenience is KING, this is just about unheard of. Washing is done by opening the lid, putting it in one machine, washing it, then, putting it in another machine and drying it. One load—about 1 hour tops, that's wash AND dry. Big machines here that save on time and handling. I love it. I'll always hit the easy button when it comes to chores.  Notice the lovely big house and barn, but no power lines. And the washing on the line   BTW - if anyone would like to see more pictures of this tour. I have them all on my FB book which is under Meg Amor and an open page. Please feel free to have a look! Under the big pink plumeria flower.     So seeing these clothesline was quite fascinating and stood out! I even took pictures of them! The no electricity thing is very interesting. The contrast to this, according the woman we spoke to at the Winesburg General Store was that some Amish, especially the younger ones, are starting to hanker after modern conveniences. And some Amish have no electricity in their homes but do have it out the back in their work sheds? Quite an interesting allotment of values. I wonder how they come to that accommodation of principles.    Amish hats for sale at the Winesburg General Store. As you can see, a big choice of colors.   As we drove down Kinrod Rd, towards the township—we saw several Amish coming back from the market in their black buggies or open horses and carts. All dressed in their almost regulation blue, which Gails asked me about and I think looking at a photograph might be a denim of some kind. All the men and young boys wear straw hats of some kind. The men also wear beards without mustaches and it's carefully shaved away from the lower lip as well. Perhaps it has something to do with not hiding your mouth. It's unusual looking though and along with style of dress, gives them an unique look.   I was so excited to see so many buggies and worked the camera like mad, wanting to capture every single one I saw. When we got to the market though—there were buggies EVERYWHERE. It was like going to Disneyland. Open mouthed wonder for me.   This local livestock auction and market at Kinrod has been going since 1923 and happens every Thursday. Here there is a wonderful mix of 'English' and Amish folk. The Amish come in their horses and black buggies or open carts. The 'English' in their pick-up trucks and huge trailers. The market is huge. Everywhere there are Amish transportation parked. Alongside this picture are the modern pickups and trailers. The contrast it wonderful. 'English' mixing with Amish. Us adding to the mix. We stood out. We didn't look like anyone else and according to the man we bought homemade ice cream from, I was dressed up really nice, what was the occasion? :-) Er, we're on holiday, I said, feeling a bit caught on the hop for an explanation. I was a bit taken aback. Quite lovely though. I only had on a sundress and an unmatching wrap because I didn't want to offend people with my bare shoulders!      Amish buggies are required by law to have indicators and hazard lights. They have a small generator that runs them.   As well as the livestock auction, they also have the flea market. We contributed to the local economy by buying 2 pots, one copper bottomed sauce pot which I love and still have pots my dad made years ago, that the handles have long fallen off. Also an old fashioned flour sifter and a lovely old flower arranger bowl. We wandered around being part of it all. People chatting to us or accepting us shyly with a nod or a small hand movement.   We watched an Amish horse and cart back up to the hog loading dock and clonk, clonk, as he took a couple of attempts to back it up hard to the dock. He and his son got out, all in blue with their straw hats. We didn't see what they were dropping off but they might have only had A pig or 3 in the back. Next door to them was a enormous American pick-up truck with a long horse float type trailer on it which dwarfed the Amish transport and probably carted in 40 animals. The contrasts were fantastic and fascinating.     Amish and English folk dropping off livestock at Kinrod Auctions. The sharp contrast between old and new. I took as many pictures as I felt I could take without disturbing people. We spoke to one man who organizes the flea market every week. He had a short beard, straw hat and a very slight Germanic accent. Very friendly and chatty and said it was fine for me to take photos of the Amish from a distance because they are shy of cameras but I could blow them up later, which I did. I felt a bit gawky taking photos of people but couldn't resist the images I was seeing. I have always been fascinated with the Amish. Although I have never found a past life as one.   We stayed for quite a while, wandering around, chatting to people and just soaking it up. A big old fashioned hardware store across from the market called Gerber's was eye catching. And down the road slightly is Lehman's which carries all manner of goods that don't require electricity. They ship their goods all over the world! We saw a sign that said, 'Please pay hay today.' I guess that's like going to a gas station and paying for the gas when you've filled up your car! All in all, it was a fascinating experience for us. I was just enthralled with it and loved going to something that was very local and cultural and not something you would get to see as a regular tourist. Later, we went through and stopped at Berlin, Ohio (lots of German names in these parts) and it was busy and touristy. And I thought, thank you to the lady this morning for telling us and for us for listening and taking that easy button way. It was a marvelous experience and reminds me that we are always looked after, if we listen, take the hints offered and go along with things. Not have too many rules and set in concrete ideas about things.       Because of the time, we missed out on what we had been originally going to see, but if Berlin was anything to go by—we saw something EVEN better. That was Easy!