Autumn Evening in Amish Country

Treasures in Simplicity

One evening, last week, Alan, Emily and I drove out to Amish Country-only 10 miles from where we live- to relish the beauty of God's marvelous creation in the simple, unfettered setting of the Plain people.

Alan recently bought me a sweet little camera for our 7th Anniversary. It is an Olympus SP-550 UZ. This particular camera has flattened the market for all other point-and-shoot camera's. An SLR expert wrote on "DPREVIEW.COM" that it is the closest thing to SLR that you can get. With an amazing 18X optical zoom, I can reach out and touch someone from quite a distance. So, together, we armed ourselves with cameras (he is a Nikon, SLR fan, while I like something to take video with), and ventured out to roads that are not even marked on any map. Here you see a couple of my favorites from that marvelously fun evening.

We were some distance away when we topped the hill to find these young girls gathered excitedly in the road discussing the next quilting, barn raising, or "happening." I could not resist this nostalgic shot with the buggy in the background and the general pastoral view surrounding these girls.

In the next scene, I screeched for Alan to stop when I saw the absolutely gorgeous light of the setting sun on these flaming trees. The shadow from the ridge behind me had darkened the Amish farm below, but the light still shone brilliantly on those beautifully arrayed trees. And if you are a hopeless romantic like I am, the fence post in the foreground of the picture really makes the picture nice. Oh well, I think its pretty anyway :-)

I have more pictures to share, but I must get some rest for tomorrow is another big day full of exciting adventures. I love the fact that God gives us such a wonderful life when we live for Him. No. Life is not always easy, but it definitely is interesting!

God said, I make all things new! And I believe that includes every day and event in our lives. Hold on to that thought today as Thanksgiving approaches.