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2012-01-26T18:34:00.001-05:00

The best part of any trip is coming home. Whenever I come home from a trip and see my nice familiar home I wonder why I ever wanted to go anywhere else. This trip to Mexico was no exception. We walked through our door about 7:45 last evening, two weeks after we left. A thoughtful son had come over a bit earlier to turn the heat up and leave a Welcome Home note.

Today was consumed with unpacking, getting things in place, and back on track. The first order of business was laundry as everything came home dirty. The final urgent matter was taking my glasses for repairs. I managed to squash them the night before we flew home. I was thankful it didn't happen earlier in the trip. Leroy taped them together well enough to keep the pieces in place so I could see my way home where I promptly exchanged them for my old pair until the smashed frames can be repaired. I will need another day to get everything squared away. By Monday I should be ready to pick up and go on with the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to share any pictures on this post because I left my camera on my nephew's desk in San Diego. I should get it back sometime next week and can make a photo post then. After smashing my glasses and forgetting my camera, I decided I was getting dangerous and it was time to come home before I hurt myself.

The campground where we stayed was nice and well cared for but it was rather inconvenient to have the kitchen so far from the dining hall. We would make the meal in the kitchen, load everything on a van, drive up to the dining hall, unload, set up for serving, and then haul everything back to the kitchen afterward. Someone should show them how to make a kitchen next to a dining hall with a serving window between the two rooms. The log cabins were the size of a large mini-barn and were nice. Each one had a bathroom and two heaters---which we really needed. I sure was glad I took my sweat pants along to wear under my nightgown because the nights were cold. There was frost a couple mornings. One afternoon it got warm enough that I shed my sweater and knee socks for a couple hours. It just was not as warm as I expected it to be in desert country. I guess Tacate is a a higher elevation and being further from the coast than Tijuana is what makes the difference.
It was good to see the Shining Light Children's Home. It is a jewel of a children's home in comparison to the homes where the crews worked. I didn't get to see any of those but I did see the old people's home where some of them worked. It was SO depressing. The people are fed but get very little personal care. One of the things the young people did was bathe the residents. They said the only time they get bathed is when a volunteer comes, which isn't very often. The rooms are dingy with about four beds in each small room. Our girls did laundry, trying to catch up on the pile. There are no dryers and the washers have to be filled with buckets. They hung the clean clothes on lines to dry and then folded the clothes and put them in a storage room. There is no difference between men and women's clothes. They just wear whatever they get. I can't imagine actually living in such a place. But if they weren't there they would be on the street so it's better than the alternative. Seeing that place gave me a feel for the work the young people were doing.

Leroy went out on a work crew a couple days but I was pretty well tied to the kitchen and laundry the whole time. We cooked tremendous amounts of food to feed 60 young people three meals each day. I lost count of the amounts of most things but remember we went through 23 gallons of milk, 44 dozen eggs, a case of tomatoes, 22 large loaves of bread, and similar amounts of other things.

The young people began leaving at 6 a.m. Monday (23rd) to catch their flights home. We stayed to help the two leaders pack up everything and take it to Shining Light for storage until the next crew goes down in February. The weather was about as miserable as it could get with a cold rain falling. It was one of those times I was thankful I wasn't a man. Leroy was the only one with a plastic poncho so he stayed fairly dry while the other men got soaked. The work was not completed until 9 p.m. Then we finally headed north, crossed the border at 10 and got to my nephew's house in San Diego at midnight.

We stayed in San Diego Tuesday for a day of sightseeing. The weather was gorgeous and warm. We went to the Creation Museum at Santee, Old Town in San Diego, and the Imperial Beach to watch the sun go down. The best part (to my thrifty German genes) was that all these things were free of charge.
We got to the beach around 4:20 and were just in time to see a whale surface a couple times. Others who saw it were exclaiming about the rarity of seeing a whale so close to the beach so we knew we had not been imagining things. That was a special surprise. I've seen the sunset on the Pacific several times but it is always different and a stunning show. It was the perfect way to end a lovely day and a two-week (working) vacation.

Update

2012-01-20T17:39:00.000-05:00

Our flights from Philadelphia to San Diego on Jan. 11 were on time. We even arrived in Dallas an hour early. How many times do you hear that happening? We spent two nights at my nephew's home in San Diego getting things together to cross the border. Our caravan of three fully loaded vans breezed right over the border into Mexico without answering any questions on Friday morning.
We got to our "Mexican home" at the Rancho Ojai campground below Tecate before lunch time and spent the rest of the day getting our kitchen set up. The young people who came to work in various institutions started arriving Saturday afternoon. We served supper to them as they arrived. Since then we have been cooking breakfast and supper for 60 every day and providing things for them to pack for lunches.
Three couples are doing the cooking and we are thankful to have one young couple with us to run back and forth from the kitchen to the dining hall for things. They have also done all the baking which is a big help. One day they made 10 pies for supper and baked lots of cookies for lunches. Today they baked six cakes. It takes a lot of food for one meal. One morning we scrambled twelve dozen eggs for breakfast.
The cooks also did the laundry for the young people. We do towels every day and did everything on Tuesday and Thursday. We had 22 loads on Tuesday and 18 on Thursday. We are glad most of the girls are doing their own laundry leaving us basically washing for the guys. We hung 46 pairs of jeans on the fence to dry.
It was cool and rainy the first couple days but since then has been sunny and warm. It is around 70 during the day but cools quickly as soon as the sun starts going down. Nights are quite chilly and we are thankful for the heater in our cabin.
We have two more days of cooking ahead of us (after today) and will leave here Monday morning. We'll spend two nights in San Diego again and then fly home on Wednesday.
Until then----

The Edge Of All Light

2012-01-10T07:24:00.000-05:00

I'm packed and ready to leave tomorrow for two weeks in San Diego and Mexico. I don't expect to have Internet access so this will probably be my last post for awhile. We will spend the first and last two nights of those two weeks with my nephew in San Diego. The rest of the time will be in Mexico.

We are going to serve as cooks for the Orphans For Jesus project associated with the Shining Light Children's Home in Tecate, Mexico. Every January, and again in February, teams of about sixty young people go to Mexico to do work projects in various children's and old folks homes. We will be staying in little cabins at a campground in Mexico.

We will start early in the morning to cook breakfast before the young people go out to start working. We will provide a packed lunch for them to take along and then have supper ready when they return from their work days. In between, when we are not cooking, we will be doing laundry for them. I don't expect there will be much idle time. We may have to come home to rest.

My sister and her husband have cooked for this group before. Being the only one of the three couples going to cook, she has worked out menus and made the shopping list of ingredients we need to purchase. Some will be bought in San Diego and some in Mexico. I feel rather green and at this point, wondering what I'm getting myself into and how everything will work out. But it's too late to back out now. We committed to do this last fall and our tickets are paid. So we'll just barge out in faith and trust the Lord to provide what we need each hour.
“When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”
(Patrick Overton)

JD Progress Report

2012-01-08T08:23:00.000-05:00

Leroy's tractor-building project was on hold most of the summer and fall because other things kept getting in the way. Now that there is no grass to mow, leaves, to rake, or snow to shovel, he is finally finding some time to work on it again. He spent two days at it this week and made some real progress. He cut a hood down to size and set the pieces together to see if they fit. The hood and some other pieces need to be painted but it is actually starting to look like a tractor now.

There's still a lot of work to complete this project. How long it will take to complete it depends on how much time he finds to work on it but it is looking hopeful.

Grandma's Brag Page

2012-01-06T08:33:00.000-05:00

We went through the Christmas and New Year holidays expecting the arrival of Gene and Amy's first child but he was too shy to face the crowds at the family dinners and stayed in hiding. Eight days after his due date, Grayson Phares Stauffer finally made his appearance at 1:38 a.m. on January 5. He weighed in at 6 lb. 14 oz. and is eighteen inches long. His middle name is in honor of his great-grandfather.

Some of our friends add grandchildren to their families every year but it's been seven years since we last had a new grandchild. Obviously, we were excited about this baby's arrival and went to the hospital to see him last evening. He seems bewildered by this strange new world and not sure he likes it. But he's a Stauffer and he'll learn to adapt.

A Grandma's Brag Page would not be complete without pictures so here he is in the very first day of his life.

We'll get better pictures after he has time to adjust to living in this world but this is enough to confirm he is a little cutie. We are so thankful for a healthy normal baby.

"Every new child comes with the message that God has not yet despaired of mankind."

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

The year of 2012 began with the Stauffer family Christmas dinner. We missed those who did not show up but a nice sized crowd gathered to feast and fellowship. The oldest one in the crowd was Leroy's 88 year-old mother and the youngest was the little boy who was due to be born Dec. 27 but was still too shy to show his face.

One of the long standing traditions, the ladies grab bag gift exchange, fell by the wayside this year. Instead, we assembled school kits to be shipped to orphans in Guatemala. They need things more than any of us do.

Today marks 18 years since our son Steve left us. He has now been gone as long as we had him. It's hard to believe 18 years could go by so quickly. I can't imagine him being 36. He's forever 18 in my mind. Two years after he died, grandson Josh joined the family. That's life--a mixture of joys and sorrows. Perhaps today the new little boy we're waiting for will arrive and make tip the balance two-to-one on the joy side.

Christmas Overview

2011-12-26T13:04:00.002-05:00

Here's just a few glimpses into our Christmas celebration this weekend. (Click on photo to enlarge)

The new drapes Leroy gave me for the living room arrived on December 23.

Our family was here on December 24. All 28 of us still fit at the tables in the basement.

We were certainly gifted parents. Just one of these things would have been enough.

The grandchildren enjoyed their gifts too. This is Lauren and Kayla sharing theirs.

Justin and Kaden compare their (battery operated) hamsters.

The hot dog roast for supper was a new activity for Christmas (fueled by the branches that came down in the October snowstorm).

After supper the boys played Monopoly with the John Deere version of the game.

On Christmas Day we went to my sister Carol's house for supper with my siblings. My Canadian brother could not be with us but connected by phone during the party. We changed to an Easter dinner after Mom died in 1993 so it has been a long time since we were together for Christmas. We had a very nice visit and uplifting conversation. It was a lovely end to the Christmas weekend.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T12:47:00.000-05:00

We're having our family for Christmas dinner tomorrow. I've done as much as I can today. The rest must wait until tomorrow morning. Cheryl and her family will arrive in time for supper tonight and stay until Sunday afternoon. We will go to my sister then Sunday evening to round out Christmas Day. I will not have time to check in here before Monday so here's wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas that will live on in memory and spirit all through 2012.

The Arrival

2011-12-22T13:48:00.001-05:00

The noise and the bustle began earlier than usual in the village. As night gave way to dawn, people were already on the streets. Vendors were positioning themselves on the corners of the most heavily traveled avenues. Store owners were unlocking the doors to their shops. Children were awakened by the excited barking of the street dogs and the complaints of donkeys pulling carts.

The owner of the inn had awakened earlier than most in the town. After all, the inn was full, all the beds taken. Every available mat or blanket had been put to use. Soon all the customers would be stirring and there would be a lot of work to do.

One’s imagination is kindled thinking about the conversation of the innkeeper and his family at the breakfast table. Did anyone mention the arrival of the young couple the night before? Did anyone comment on the pregnancy of the girl on the donkey? Perhaps. Perhaps someone raised the subject. But, at best, it was raised, not discussed. There was nothing that novel about them. They were, possibly, one of several families turned away that night.

Besides, who had time to talk about them when there was so much excitement in the air? Augustus did the economy of Bethlehem a favor when he decreed that a census should be taken. Who could remember when such commerce had hit the village?

No, it is doubtful that anyone mentioned the couple’s arrival or wondered about the condition of the girl. They were too busy. The day was upon them. The day’s bread had to be made. The morning’s chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred.

God had entered the world as a baby.

Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.

The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.

A more lowly place of birth could not exist.

Off to one side sit a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him—so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.

Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can’t remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy. He still hasn’t figured it all out. The mystery of the event still puzzles him. But he hasn’t the energy to wrestle with the questions. What’s important is that the baby is fine and that Mary is safe. As sleep comes, he remembers the name the angel told him to use . . . Jesus. “We will call him Jesus.”

Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph’s saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can’t take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel,

“His kingdom will never end.”

He looks anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.

She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!

This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.Meanwhile, the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility.

Those who missed His Majesty’s arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren’t looking. (emphasis mine)

Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

Max Lucado

Christmas Eve Story

2011-12-21T10:47:00.001-05:00

This is, of course, a fictitious story but still touching.

On a snow blessed Christmas Eve a young man found himself alone in the back of an old city bar in the rundown section of town. Using his solitary drink as something of a moat between himself and the rest of the world, he was surprised when an elderly gentleman asked to join him at his table. Reluctantly, he nodded his permission but within minutes he found himself engrossed in a story that the old man related to him; a story about another Christmas Eve when the Lord looked down from above at all his children. It had been nearly two thousand years since the birth of His Son and turning to His youngest angel the Lord said, “Go down to the Earth and bring back to me the one thing that best represents everything good that has been done in the name of this day.”

The angel bowed to the Lord and spreading his wings, descended from heaven to the world of man, all the while contemplating his mission. So much had been done in the name of honoring the birth of the Christ Child. For this day wars had temporarily ceased, cathedrals had been built and great novels had been written. With so little time, what could he possibly find to represent all this?

As he soared above the earth, he suddenly heard the sound of church bells below. Their tone was so beautiful that it reminded him of the voice of God.

Looking down, he saw a small church whose bells were ringing out the carol, “Silent Night.” As the final note died away, it was replaced by one lone voice singing inside the church. It was shortly joined by a second voice that embraced the first in perfect harmony, and then another and another until a choir of voices rose through the night. Enchanted by the magic of what he was hearing, the angel found himself listening until the song was finished. As he resumed his flight through the night, he was delighted to hear these sounds everywhere, from the largest cities to the smallest villages. And any place where he heard these songs, he found hope in the hearts of men. Grasping a song out of the air, he held it in his hand (angels are able to do this) and thought that maybe, these songs could be the one thing that best represented Christmas. They seemed to give voice to man's greatest joys as well as hope to those deepest in despair.

But, though at first glance it appeared to be the answer he sought, his heart told him that this music was not enough. There had to be something more. So he continued his flight through the night until he suddenly felt the touch of a father's prayer on its way to heaven. Once again looking downward, he saw a man who was praying for his child; a child whom he had not heard from in a long time and who would not be home that Christmas. Seizing upon the prayer, the angel followed it until it reached the lost child.

She was standing on a corner, in a quiet snowfall, looking very small in a very large city. Across from her was an old city bar, the kind that only the lost seemed to know how to find.

The patrons of this establishment rarely looked up from their drinks and so seemed not to notice the young girl. Suddenly, the door opened wide and into this world walked a small child. The bartender could not remember the last time that a child had been in this place, but before he could ask the child what he was doing there, the child asked him if he knew that there was a girl outside their door who could not get home. Glancing out the window, he saw the girl standing across the street. Turning back to the child, the bartender asked him how he knew this. The child replied: "On this night of all nights, if one could be home, they'd be already there.” The bartender looked back toward the young girl as he reflected on what the child had said. After several seconds of thought, he slowly went over to the cash register and removing most of the money, came out from behind the bar and followed the child across the street.

Everyone in the bar watched as he spoke with the girl. After a few moments, he called over a cab, put the girl inside and told the driver, "J.F.K. Airport." As the cab pulled away, he looked around for the child, but the child was gone. And what was stranger still, even though his own tracks leading from the bar were still clearly marked in the snow, the child's were nowhere to be found. Returning back inside, he asked if anyone had seen where the child had gone, but like himself, no one had, for they also had been watching the departing cab.

Later that night the angel returned back to heaven and placed in the Lord's hand, the prayer of a father for the return of his child. And as the heavenly host looked on, the Lord smiled.

At the end of his story the old man then told the youth that he had enjoyed their time together but that it was time for him to leave. After the old man had left, the youth found himself rushing out the door only seconds behind the elderly gentleman's exit so that he might ask his name, but not only was there no one in sight but there wasn't even a single track in the snow.

The young man stood there for a moment perplexed but then he suddenly felt a sense of gentle peace and contentment flow through his body. Buttoning his coat the youth slowly walked home where for the first time since his childhood he dreamed a Christmas dream.

Christmas Village

2011-12-15T08:01:00.001-05:00

We went out for supper last evening for my birthday (on a gift certificate). On the way home we passed Koziar's Christmas Village which is about four miles from our house. This elaborate display started out as a family decorating their farm in 1948 and continued to expand until the family made enough money from it that they could quit milking cows. After 60 years, cars still line up for miles waiting to get into the place.

I drive by this place in all seasons of the year. Many of the decorations remain in place all year but the lights don't go on until the fall. This place has put the sleepy little town of Bernville on the map. People from far and wide know about Christmas Village and if you say Bernville they immediately say, "Oh. Up there at Christmas Village." Yes, and the road that goes by the place has even been named Christmas Village Road.

Since I'm not big on decorating I've never had a burning desire to pay to get in and see it up close. ("A prophet is not without honor except in his own country.") But I do like to see this view from the hill when I pass by this time of year. So for all of you who have never seen or heard of it, here is Koziar's Christmas Village. (Click to enlarge)

This link will take you to more images of some of the displays on the place

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=freeze&va=koziar%27s+christmas+village

But don't forget what Christmas is all about---Jesus, the Light of the world.

Three Sisters

2011-12-11T14:46:00.003-05:00

This might be an old one to you but it was new to me. It fits like a glove.

Three Sisters

We are three sisters
Three sisters are we
I love each of you,
And I know you love me.

We’re not always together,
Life sometimes keeps us apart.
But we're never separated
We’re in each other's heart.

Now I know we've had our troubles,
But we always get thru.
The real message is you love me,
And I also love you.

We have had lots of good times
That we'll never forget
Sometimes we worry
And sometimes we fret.

But if God ever gave me
Something special you see,
It might have been the blessing of,
Three sisters are we.

The Lord above has gave me lots
Of happiness and glee
But the most special thing he did was
Make us sisters, all three.

This was taken four years ago when my youngest sister received her doctorate in English education at Pensecola Christian College. She is the English teacher at Terre Hill Mennonite High School. It's the best most-recent picture I have of the three of us together.

Christmas & Birthday

2011-12-09T12:52:00.000-05:00

We are having our family for Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Believe it or not, that's only two weeks away. This morning I finished shopping for gifts and everything is now wrapped and waiting. A few things need to be slipped into gift bags the last day. I do not do well with cramming to finish and it's a good feeling to be ready two weeks early.

I've actually been ahead of the game the whole way this year. The cookies were baked the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas mail went out this week. I still need to bake the Moravian Sugar Cake for our Christmas breakfast but that is never done far in advance so it doesn't get stale waiting.

The mail is more interesting in December than any other month of the year. We both have a birthday in December which adds to the mail. We have a gift certificate for a restaurant which will do for a joint birthday supper. The place is decided by the gift certificate but we still need to decide on whose birthday we will use it. He thinks we should go on his birthday because it's a Saturday and I think we should go on mine three days earlier. Shouldn't the cook have off on HER birthday? Come on, cast your vote for me!

Prepared

2011-12-03T08:40:00.000-05:00

Hurricane Irene knocked out electric out for five days in August. That was the longest we've ever been without power. We managed to keep the food in our frig and freezer from spoiling by running a generator Leroy brought home from work. But it was not big enough to pump water so we were handicapped and ever so thankful when power was restored.
A freak snowstorm in October brought down the lines again and we were without power for four days. It was colder and we were without both water and heat. We stayed warm with the help of a kerosene heater and again borrowed a generator to run the frig and freezer but were without water.
That did it! Leroy has been talking for a long time about getting an alternate power source and after those two storms he decided it is time to get serious and do something. Yesterday he got a generator that is big enough to run the furnace and pump water. He is working on making a plug arrangement so it can be connected to the dryer receptacle and operated by turning individual breakers on and off. We can run things without a tangle of cords running through the house.
When we said we were considering doing this someone said, "Go ahead. That will be good insurance. If you have one you won't need it." It may turn out that way and I won't complain if we don't need it. But you know the old saying, "Seconds, thirds." We've had two strikes close together and blizzard season is coming. If the power goes off again for an extended period, we're prepared.

It's Here!

2011-11-28T09:47:00.000-05:00

Aaron's Civil War is now available from Christian Light Publications. Click on this link for a description of the book and ordering information.
http://www.clp.org/product/aarons_civil_war_2805

The book should appear in bookstores shortly. If you don't want to wait or do not know of a bookstore that handles my books you can order on line now.

Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart

2011-11-23T18:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I couldn't figure out how to embed this link so just click on it and enjoy.

http://llerrah.com/bethankful.htm

Unser Leit

2011-11-22T13:57:00.002-05:00

Last evening we went to a historical meeting where Leroy Beachy, from Holmes County, Ohio, introduced his new two-volume set of books entitled Unser Leit (Our People). In these books he traces the history of the Amish from Europe to the present day in Holmes County. In addition to writing the text, he drew by hand all of the pictures in the books. Since my ancestors were pretty solidly Mennonites rather than Amish, I did not go to buy the books but to hear what he had learned in his research.

Almost every source you find will tell you the Amish separated from the Swiss Mennonites in 1693 due to a disagreement between the leaders of the Mennonites and Jacob Amman who led the Amish. In the Archives in Bern, Leroy Beachy found some documents which do not fit that story. He has a document which lists the "Amish" in Switzerland who were taxed half the value of their properties in 1673 for being Anabaptists. Their leader was Ulrich Muller (Miller). He also has a court record from 1674 showing Ulrich was imprisoned at Thun for 16 months on a diet of bread and water. The surnames of Ulrich's followers are "Amish" names although they did not begin to be called Amish until later when Jacob Amman became their bishop. This group of Anabaptists came out of the Reformed Church in Switzerland, independent of the Mennonites in Switzerland and Holland. They had some different practices (such as shunning and feet washing) from the Swiss Mennonites. They never were part of the same group and the Amish did not form as the result of a church split.

Amos Hoover says we should have known by their surnames that the Amish and Mennonites always were two separate groups of Anabaptists. If they formed from a church split the surnames on both sides would have been fairly equal. But the surnames among the Amish are distinctly different from those of the Swiss Mennonites. Common surnames among the Swiss Mennonites are Weaver, Martin, Sensenig, Hoover, etc. while Amish surnames are King, Glick, Zook, Hostetler, Stoltzfus, etc.

Changing a story that has been believed for more than a hundred years is not easy. But it has been done before when documents surfaced which proved the previous story was based on assumptions rather than facts.

In his book Leroy tells how he became interested in the history of the Amish when he was eleven years old. This is how it happened.

Leroy's parents invited Felty Burkholders for dinner one Sunday. After they finished eating Felty pushed his chair back from the table, tipped it on the two back legs, and said (in PA German), "You know, it always wondered me where the Amish came from." None of them really knew but Elsie was there and she knew something. She said:

Long ago the only people who lived in America were Indians. They were always fighting and killing each other so they never amounted to much and there weren't many of them. In Europe it was just the opposite. The land was full of people and there was not enough land to go around. To alleviate the overcrowding they decided to send some people to America. The ones who were chosen to go were called Pilgrims. In 1492 they got on three ships called the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria and sailed to America. John Smith was their captain. One ship load was Amish, the second Conservatives, and the third Mennonites. They settled in Lancaster County and from there they spread across America.

Felty considered her story and had another question. If all the settlers were some kind of Mennonites or Amish, where did the auslanders (non-Mennonite) come from? Elsie said, "Oh they were people who defected from the Mennonites."

With this as his starting point, Leroy Beachy has come a long way in sorting out fact from fiction.

Hilarious Giving

2011-11-17T14:15:00.001-05:00

The holiday season is rushing to meet us. Thanksgiving Day is just one week away and merchants are already pushing Christmas. It is appropriate that we pause to count our blessings and give thanks for them before we dive into Christmas when the focus all too often is on getting rather than giving.

Our church has always collected donations for needy families the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It is usually a grocery shower but sometimes a money shower is more practical. That is the case this year with at least one of the families living in another state. We will be collecting money on Sunday for three families who have had large and on-going medical bills this year. The father of one family died recently after a battle with cancer and just after his wife was also diagnosed with cancer.

Last evening we were discussing the money shower and how much we should contribute for each family. Leroy named a figure and my immediate response was (to my shame), "Where are you going to get that kind of money?"

He said, "If we wanted something for ourselves we would find the money."

Gulp. He's right. The amount he suggested is small in comparison to what we have spent on oursleves this year. We have replaced our car, freezer, and refrigerator. All three were 20-44 years old and/or inoperative, so they really did need to be replaced. We have been greatly blessed and could do it without financing. We could give the amount he suggested without hardship. Why did I bulk?

I don't like to admit I'm selfish but it sticks out all over, doesn't it? Be honest. Is it true that I can't afford to give or do I just not want to?
And that's what too often makes the holidays a headache. It's the season of greed and all about ME. What I want for myself is more important than what I am willing to give to someone else. I need to learn to be more Christ-like. He had all the wealth of heaven but sacrificed it to come to earth and be my servant.

At Thanksgiving and Christmas (especially) our focus should be on what we can do for others rather than what we want to do for ourselves. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). The Greek word translated cheerful is hilaros, from which we get our word "hilarious." Am I going to give just enough to soothe my conscience because it is expected or will I give sacrificially, hilariously?

Silver Lining

2011-11-14T08:08:00.001-05:00

We reached a milestone on Sunday. Eighteen years ago Steve had his eighteenth (and last) birthday on November 13. I can hardly believe as many years have passed as he was with us. I can't quite picture him being 36. In my mind he is forever 18. God has him in His keeping, we have him in our hearts.

Although we never would have chosen for Steve's life on earth to end when it did, there are some benefits we never would have if things had been otherwise. One of those blessings is the "addition" of Steve's best friend to our family. He has since married and has five children who call us Grandpa and Grandma and consider our other grandchildren their cousins. "Every cloud has a silver lining."

Last week was a very full week with church every evening plus running to and fro on the face of the earth three days. I had very little time to get things done here at home. All these activities made it an interesting week but I am ready for the pace to slow down this week. At the same time, I am realizing the holiday season is rushing to meet us and there will be no lack of things to do the rest of the year.

Baby Shower

2011-11-06T15:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a baby shower for Gene and Amy. They are eagerly waiting for their little firstborn son to arrive a few days after Christmas. Amy was told about the shower the night before so it was not a surprise. We had a brunch before she opened her gifts. She got a lot of nice, cute, and useful things. I gave a blue onesie I saw weeks ago and couldn't resist.

It says "If you think I'm handsome you should see my Daddy." I thought it was appropriate for the father's mother to give that. It was only a token gift. In the bag was a note telling them to come to our house and pick up their rocking chair whenever they are ready for it.

We're planning to have our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. This little fellow could interfere if he should arrive a few days before the due date. But babies come when they are ready and we'll just have to adjust as needed if that should happen.

The closest I came to having a Christmas baby was the middle of November. I thought that Christmas was especailly meaningful as I thought how Mary must have felt when she held her Son in her arms. Babies are sweet any time of the year but a newborn at Christmas adds a special touch to the holiday. If this one should come 10-12 days early he could even share the birthday of his grandpa or grandma Stauffer. We can only wait and see whose birthday he will share or if he'll pick one of his own.

Survivor!!

2011-11-02T16:24:00.000-04:00

The great October blizzard is now history and I am glad. Only a bit of snow remains piled in secluded places and the grass is green again instead of white. Here are a couple pictures.

This one was taken Sunday morning soon after sunrise which accounts for the blue color. The branches of the trees were hanging to the ground on Saturday (and quite a few broke off) but by Sunday morning the snow had fallen off the branches and they were back in place. This one give you an idea of the depth of the snowfall. The previous record for the month of October was two inches and we topped that by at least 3.5 inches.

This one was taken Sunday afternoon when the snow had already begun to melt. (The good thing about October snows is that they don't last long.) The brown strips in the fields are soybeans that had not been harvested. I'm afraid the snow threshed the beans right into the ground. I have never seen the landscape this white with so many colored leaves still on the trees.

Our electric was off four full days---96 1/2 hours, to be exact. We managed to keep warm with a kerosene heater, kept our food from spoiling in the frig and freezer with a generator, burned a gas lantern for light after dark, and bummed water and showers from our son a couple times. In August we were out of electric five days and I sure was hoping we wouldn't have a repeat performance. It came too close for comfort.

The weather this year, and especially in the last half of the year, has been extreme. We had a record 106 in July, earthquake and hurricane in August (which caused flooding), record rainfall in September, and now a record snowfall in October. What will happen in November? I don't even want to think about it. Let's just have a "normal" month for a change! I guess God's just reminding us He is in control and man is no match for His power.

October Snowstorm

2011-10-31T11:55:00.000-04:00

I'm sure lots of people are posting about the record snowfall we had this weekend. The previous record snowfall for October was two inches. We beat that record all hollow on Saturday with 5.5 inches. Since the leaves are still on the trees, the weight of the heavy wet snow on top of the leaves brought down many branches which took power lines with them.

The storm was not a surprise. The meteorologist had been warning for several days that it was coming. After being without power for five days in August following a hurricane, we took the warning seriously. Leroy brought a generator home from work on Friday night and I tapped some drinking water Saturday morning.

It was raining when we got up but by 8:30 had changed to snow. At first it melted as it came down but then it started to pile up. And then branches started coming down. We lost power at our house at 2 p.m.

In August it was warm enough that we did not need heat but this time the house got sort of chilly. When it was down to 63 Leroy started the kerosene heater and that took care of the chills. The generator was put to use to run the freezer and frig but it is not large enough to pump water. That is the largest handicap.

We went to his mom Sunday morning to wash dishes and get showers. Lunch was a tin can of soup and hamburgers made on the grill. Gerald and Kelly were powerless too but Gene and Amy were only out a couple hours on Saturday so they invited the four of us up to their house for supper Sunday. Got through one day.

This morning the power is still off. I needed to do laundry so I came up to Amy again to use her washer. This is my chance to use her computer as well to let the world know we are still alive. When the laundry is done I'll go back to my powerles cave.

The morning paper said our power company still has 35,000 customers without electric and it could be Friday before it is restored to everyone. I can only hope we are not the last ones on the list this time. In the meantime, we'll bum water off other people, eat tin can soup, and manage the best we can. We survived five days in August and I guess we can again if we have to---but I'd rather not have to stick it out that long.

Can You Top This?

2011-10-27T08:12:00.001-04:00

When I was collecting information on the descendants of immigrant Christian Burkholder there were a couple great-granddaughters in Ohio I could not trace. In the Lancaster County archives on Tuesday I found documents related to the settlement of Christian's daughter Anna "Nancy." She was never married so her estate was divided among her nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews. Those papers gave me the married names of the mystery girls and the names of at least some of their children.

One of them was Mary Weaver, daughter of Henry and Barbara (Zug) Weber. (Henry was the son of Christian Burkholder's daughter Barbara, sister of Anna/Nancy.) Henry and Barbara moved to Stark County, Ohio. Their three oldest children remained in Lancaster County but the others went with them to Ohio and changed the spelling of their name to Weaver.

Mary Weaver married John Garman. She died before her aunt Anna/Nancy's estate was settled in 1873 so her children received her share of the inheritance.

Now here's the part that still has my head spinning. John Garman (1811-1889) had three wives

Magdalena Dickerhoof (1810-1849)

Mary Weaver (1825-1862)

Catharine Hane (1838-1920)

He had a family with his first wife and married Mary the year after his first wife's death. She was 14 years younger than him and he had a second family with her. After she died he married his third wife who was 27 years his junior and had a third family. His three families totaled 29 children. You heard right. Twenty-nine children! In the 1880 census he was 70 years old and had a 9-month-old son. Wow!

Can you top that? It's the record for any family I ever found in the United States of America.

Sneak Preview

2011-10-25T07:12:00.000-04:00

Here is the cover of my new book. The lines at the bottom say "He marched off to fight a glorious war, but discovered the real enemy was closer than the gray coats across the battlefield."

I got the typeset copy yesterday for the final proofreading. It should be ready for the printer next week and is expected to be on the market before Christmas. Open your wallets and prepare to buy!

I started researching this story at the beginning of 2009. It was accepted by Christian Light Publications at the very end of 2010. By the time it is on the market it will have taken three years to go from idea to print. That's why writers of my caliber need to have another source of income to survive. I enjoyed researching and writing this story and it is gratifying to see it become reality.

Sunrise, Sunset

2011-10-19T11:28:00.000-04:00

Today I bumped into a reality check. This is our daughter's 40th birthday. She is our third, not our oldest child. I look at our three "middle age" children and wonder how this can be.

"Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play? I don't remember growing older, when did they? Wasn't it yesterday when they were small? Sunrise, sunset, Sunrise, sunset - Swiftly flow the days. Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers blossoming even as we gaze..." (Fiddler on the Roof).

After all the birthdays I've had I've sort of become immune to them. They can come and go without making me feel any older. It's the numbers on my children's ages that make me catch my breath and think surely there must be some mistake. But they are starting to turn gray so maybe the numbers are right.

It doesn't seem long at all since I turned 40 but life has changed considerably since then. On my 40th birthday my youngest child was a four-year-old preschooler and he had five older siblings still under our roof. One by one they left the nest, five by marriage and one by death. Every time one left there were changes within the household. Now we are back where we started with just the two of us rattling around in the house.

Every time I entered a new stage of life I thought it was better than the one before. I couldn't imagine it until I got here but this empty nester stage is the best yet. It's only when I stop to think how the numbers of my children's ages are ratcheting up that I get scared. I'm not trying to deny I'm over the hill but the further I go down the other side the faster the ride. And this thing doesn't have any brakes! It just keeps rolling along, "sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset . . . "

Strange Old Lady

2011-10-13T16:16:00.000-04:00

A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there, and the next day, she was.

She is a clever old lady and manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror I catch a glimpse of her. And whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is, hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body. This is very rude. I have tried screaming at her but she just screams back.

For an old lady, she is quite childish. She likes to play nasty games, like going into my closets when I'm not home and altering my clothes so they don't fit. And she messes with my files and papers so I can't find anything. This is particularly annoying since I am extremely neat and organized.

She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me. She gets into my mail, newspapers and magazines before I do, and blurs the print so I can't read it. She has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my radio and telephone. Now, all I hear are mumbles and whispers.

She has taken the fun out of shopping for clothes. When I try something on, she stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks totally ridiculous in some of those outfits.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She came along when I went to get my picture taken for my driver's license, and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me! No one is going to believe that the picture of that old lady is me!

Stuff Collects

2011-10-11T20:43:00.001-04:00

When I first started writing for publication in 1973 my "office" was the kitchen table. I didn't even own a typewriter so I wrote things by hand and then went over to my mom to type the piece for submission. That was too unhandy so I soon bought a used manual typewriter on an auction. That antique Royal typewriter has been resting in the attic for years.

I thought I was really getting up in this world when I bought an electric typewriter. By then I was writing enough that my office had expanded to a card table which was set up wherever it was most convenient at the time---kitchen, bedroom, or basement. When I started writing Sunday school quarterlies I taught myself to compose on the typewriter due to space limitations. Composing on the typewriter saved a lot of time because I knew if I had too much or too little to fill the space alloted for each lesson. After the rough draft was written I spent at least three full days retyping two copies of the manuscript. By the end of three full days of typing I would be typing my dreams at night.

Enter the first computer. It is also an antique by now as computers go. I struggled to learn to use it but was soon hooked. No more retyping when the manuscript was finished. But the card table was not big enough for the computer and all my books and writing aids. So I got a small computer desk which we set up in the bedroom. That was my office for several years.

I dreamed of having a whole room for my office but we needed all the rooms for bedrooms. Then the children began leaving home and one day we were able to move the computer desk into a room of its own. As you might guess, the computer desk and file cabinet were no longer big enough for all my books and papers. I went to an Amish man who built desks and ordered a new desk custom made to fit my room. It included a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, a dozen drawers, and more shelves behind doors in the corner hutch top. At last! My dream was reality and I had lots of room!

Fast forward a couple more years. Today the bookcase is nearly full. The file drawers are bulging, the shelves are rather full. Stuff collects!!

Last week I set about reorganizing my stuff. Believe it or not, I even convinced myself to throw a few things out. I had to go to the store twice for more folders. I finished the job this afternoon. My two hobbies of writing and history & genealogy are now residing in separate file drawers. Things are in hanging files and labeled folders. I hope I will be able to find things more easily in my new filing system. But I wonder what I'll do a couple years from now if I keep on the way I have been. Stuff collects!!

My Jerusalem

2011-10-05T08:46:00.000-04:00

My two brothers are actively invovled in mission work. The older of the two has served in several missions in Central America at various times and is currently pastoring a mission church in the city. The younger one is a career missionary and travels around the world in mission work. He is currently spending six weeks in Thailand and Mynmar. Both of them have a lot of interesting stories to tell about the people they meet and the work they do.

The elder brother was the speaker at our annual Missonary Conference over the weekend. Among other things, he challenged us to get out on the street corners to distribute tracts and preach to the people. I came away feeling like I am not fulfilling the Great Commission to go into all the world. I sit at my computer writing stories and doing volunteer work at the historical society while people are perishing.

Yesterday was my regular day to be at the historical society. A bus tour was scheduled to tour the museum. I show the domestic part of the museum and two men show the agricultural and church & school portions. I don't have time to talk about every item on display but usually point out the same ones to each group and answer any questions.

One of the men in the group yesterday asked, "What is the significance of the women's white cap?" I answered his question by referring him to 1 Corinthians 11 and explaning what it says. I finished by saying, "The Bible says so." He just looked at me and didn't say another word. I don't know what he was thinking but I doubt he was expecting an answer from the Bible. I was glad I was there to answer that question.

As I reflected on that experience, I realized there have been other times when I have had an opportunity to share my faith in the museum. My brothers go into all the world but there are opportunities to witness wherever we are. The museum can be my "Jerusalem."

Mounted

2011-09-30T13:00:00.000-04:00

Hunting season is about to open and taxidermists will find their work picking up as trophies are brought in for mounting. We've got a trophy mounted and on display in front of the garage.

We always said we drive our cars until the wheels fall off. It happened on Monday. After serving us for nearly thirteen years and taking us 200,000 miles, something suddenly went CLUNK. The suspension fell down and the steering went with it. Fortunately, it happened while going up a crowded exit ramp at 5 mph instead of a few minutes earlier when it was going full speed. We can only thank the Lord for holding it together long enough to prevent a tragic accident.

Leroy borrowed the neighbor's trailer to bring it home. He wants to look at it in the daylight before he unloads it so he can see better what would be involved in fixing it. With the other repairs it would need to pass inspection the end of October, it is highly questionable whether it's worth sinking any more money into it. Once he decides what to do with it we'll know if the trailer is the operating table or hearse.

I'm so thankful we bought another car in June. If we didn't have that one we would suddenly be up the crick without a paddle.

Camping

2011-09-25T17:12:00.001-04:00

We've come through a week of gray skies and drippy weather. Monday morning was nice but the clouds rolled in during the afternoon and never went away. We got twelve inches of rain from the two hurricanes that crossed through here earlier this month so we really didn't need any more rain. I wish people in the dry parts of the country could have had what we got this week but that's out of my control. Actually, we only picked up a little over an inch throughout the week but one dreary day followed another.

The Stauffer family has an annual camping weekend at a local campground at the end of September. Cheryl and her family planned to come this year. They had a terrible time deciding if they want to come all the way from Ohio for a weekend that winds up being a washout. They finally decided to take the chance, come, and "think +." It worked!

Heavy showers moved through Friday night but by the time they got to the campground at 8:30 it had stopped. The weekend was not exactly gorgeous but the clouds controlled themselves and kept their tears inside. On Saturday afternoon the sun actually came out for awhile and we saw blue sky for the first time since Monday morning. The chicken barbq supper was held on schedule.

Everyone brings enough chicken legs and potatoes for their family and they are all done together. I always take enough for all of our children and grandchildren. The first year I did that it only meant two extra legs. This year I took 17. Two of the sons could not attend or I would have taken more. We had a total of about 60 legs on the grill.

We are not happy campers and come home to sleep. We went to church this morning and then went back to the campground again for lunch. The gray clouds still hovered above but it did not rain all weekend, thank you very much!

Autum arrived on Friday and with the camping weekend behind us, we are poised to fall into the new season. It's sure to bring cooler temperatures and I hope some sunshine to give us a chance to dry out.

Downsizing and Upgrading

2011-09-21T11:55:00.001-04:00

"I'm not fat, I'm fluffy." You've probably seen that line somewhere. Fluffy sounds cuter than fat. We would prefer to be known as "thrifty" rather than "tight." The term doesn't change the fact but it does bring a more friendly image to the mind. Call it something else and it is easier to accept. Hmmmm. That might work for some more things.

The only thing I dread in housekeeping career is cleaning cupboards and closets. There are so many more interesting things to do and it's so easy to procrastinate. But eventually things reach a point where something has to change and I get at it.

Such was the case this morning. The day had arrived which I had scheduled for housecleaning the bathroom and I knew that awful closet was leering at me behind it's closed door. As usual, getting started was the worst part and the results were reward enough to keep going.

As I worked I thought maybe cleaning closets would be more attractive if I gave it a new name. Combining half empty shampoo bottles, throwing out expired medicines, etc. could be called downsizing. Wiping the layer of dirt off the shelves is upgrading. Returning things to their proper places is reorganizing. That sounds more efficient than old fashioned housecleaning. Will it help? Probably not as long as I have a computer in the next room.

Life's Little Surprises

2011-09-14T07:05:00.000-04:00

Life is full of surprises. Sometimes they are not appreciated (like when the electric is off for five days) and other times they are pleasant little interludes. One of the later popped up yesterday when a friend from Iowa I had not seen for more than thirty years stopped in for a visit.

Betty and I found each other when we were about nine or ten years old through the "Reader's Write" column in the church papers. One of us wrote a letter asking for pen pals. The fact that our birthdays are two days apart if what brought us together and we have been writing ever since. Today, most of our communication is by email rather than snail mail.

Betty and Bob were here on their honeymoon in 1970 and again the next year with their first child. The last time we were at their house was in 1979. They had ten children and we had six. I guess we were both busy raising families and had no time or money to travel back and forth. We have been saying for several years that we want to go to Iowa but other things kept getting in the way. Maybe next year. . . .

At any rate, it was good to see Betty again after all these years and their visit was far too short. But we were on the tail end of their two-week vacation and I know at that point it starts to feel like it's time to get home again.

Here's Betty and I, together again after more than 30 years. We'll make sure it's not that long the next time..

Back to Normal

2011-09-12T08:32:00.000-04:00

After surviving two back-to-back hurricanes, I hope life returns to normal this week. Irene left us without electric for five days and Lee dumped eight inches of rain on us last week. We had electric but flooding disrupted the normal flow of life. The forecast for this week looks sunny with the chance of a spotty shower once in awhile but no hurricanes are on the horizon.

Although my plans for the past two weeks had to be adjusted due to the weather, we were very fortunate. Our hearts go out to those whose homes were flooded or who had family members swept away in the floods. One was an eight-year-old boy who was playing in the water and another was a man who was trying to help someone with a flooded basement. We had only a small wet spot in the basement and we canceled some plans and stayed home because of flooded roads. That is minor compared to what some people are dealing with.

At least the electric stayed on during Lee and I was able to harvest the Concord grapes in the back yard and wrap up the 2011 canning season. We had a bumper crop of grapes this year, better than we've had for years. I decided they must thrive on neglect. They were not pruned, sprayed, or watched. I was astounded when I picked a five-gallon bucket full and saw I had hardly made a difference. In the end I got three buckets full which became 17 qts. juice concentrate and two batches of jelly. With great joy I put the canner away for the season. I am ready to do something different and start eating out of the freezer again.

At the top of my new list is cleaning the patio. I like to do that the end of August before it gets too cool to slop with the hose. The job was postponed two weeks due to the hurricanes but it looks like the beginning of this week will be perfect. By the end of the week we will have "a touch of fall" with temperatures struggling to reach 70.

Sometimes when life seems to be the same-old, same-old, we might begin to feel we're in a boring old rut. But when life is upset by unusual circumstances that old rut starts to look rather attractive and comfortable after all. I'm happy to slip back into my comfortable old rut this week and get back to normal. Someone said, "A rut is a grave with the ends kicked out." Not necessarily. A rut can be a blessing.

Apple Butter

2011-09-06T07:52:00.001-04:00

Our Labor Day activity was making apple butter the old fashioned way in my sister's copper kettle. Last year was our first attempt and a learning experience. We had a larger crowd this year and therefore a bigger batch of apple butter. We shorten the process by starting with applesauce instead of raw apples. Rain had moved in overnight and threatened all day so my brother-in-law set the furnace in his implement shed where it would be under roof.

With so many of us taking turns stirring, no one had to stir long at a time. We started at 10 a.m. and the apple butter was pronounced finished approximately 1:45. We dipped it from the kettle to a big dishpan and divided it among us according to how much applesauce each of us had contributed to the kettle. I wound up with 3 qt. of apple butter for my 4 qt. applesauce.

I always made apple butter in the oven. Baking for three hours or slowly simmering in a crockpot will turn applesauce into apple butter just as well as cooking over a wood fire. But the apple butter made this way has a different flavor. The best part of apple butter day is swapping stories and catching up with each other's lives. The memories we make while we stir and ladle the stuff is the secret ingredient that gives old fashioned apple butter its superior taste---and maybe a little of the wood smoke gets stirred into it too.

I still have some apple butter in my freezer from previous years and really didn't need any more but I wouldn't have wanted to miss the day. I can always give it as Christmas gifts. Maybe by next year my older stuff will be used up and I'll be ready for a fresh batch.

Power Woman

2011-09-03T09:14:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Irene is finally history in these parts. After 122 1/2 hours without electric, power was restored at 1:30 p.m. yesterday. I quickly unplugged the frig and freezer from the generator and into the wall receptacle again. Then I got rid of the tangle of cords running through the hall and kitchen and down the basement steps. Next I happily returned the coal oil lamps to their decorative positions and the gas lamp to the garage, poured the bucket of water on the plants, flushed the toilet (!), and reset clocks. Ahhh! We're back to normal.

As unhandy as it was to be without electric for five full days (plus a few hours), we are still fortunate. Leroy left at 4 this morning to go to New Jersey with a group of men who are doing flood clean up work. All we needed to do to put Irene behind us was have the electric restored. We did not lose anything in floods nor do we have to repair anything.

Still, I feel as if I sat by the side of the road all week unable to do much. Today I'm a Power Woman; all the electric I need to do anything I need to do. My sister knows me well. She warned me not to try to do everything today I was planning to do all week. The urge is there to do it all but I know that's impossible. I'll do what I can today and the rest of it next week.

I told Leroy I hope I never take electric for granted again but I probably will when the memory of this week fades. Today it still seems like a miracle to have light at the flip of a switch and water at the turn of a knob. It feels like being born again.

Power woman, start your engine! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! And away I go!

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-31T12:31:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Irene blew up the East Coast on Saturday. The wind increased all day Saturday and rain began falling. It was still raining when we got up Sunday morning but it seemed the worst was over. The power blinked once Sunday morning but came right back on. We went to church as usual and by the time it was over the rain had stopped and wind was dying down. We went merrily on our way to our dinner invitation at my cousin's house at Fleetwood. Eveything was fine there. We had a good meal and nice time visiting.

When we arrived home about 4 p.m. we found the electric had gone off at 11:02 a.m. Oh well. We didn't mind too much because it was Sunday and we weren't doing much anyway. I had tapped some drinking water and Leroy had filled a 5-gallon bucket with water for other uses. We went to church in the evening and then to bed by the light of a coal oil lamp, confident power would be restored by morning.

We awoke Monday morning to a dark house. Now it was beginning to become real. I hauled our dirty laundry up to Gene & Amy's house and ran it through her washer. It dried nicely on my solar powered washline. I spent quite a bit of time picking up the sticks that had blown down and burned them. I decided not to bother cooking supper; we can go out to eat and surely by Tuesday the power will be on.

We awoke Tuesday morning to a dark house. More of the same. I had invited Gene & Amy for supper because it was his birthday. Instead, I hauled the food up to their house and cooked it there. Surely by Wednesday morning the power will be on.

We awoke Wednesday morning to a dark house . . . . More of the same . . . Surely by Thursday morning the power will be on. . .

To be continued

According to this morning's paper, we could be out of electric until Saturday. I hope not, but am trying to look at the bright side. At least we don't have to worry about keeping warm, frozen pipes, and closed roads. We were able to borrow a generator from the shop to keep the food from spoiling in the frig and freezer. I discovered I can also plug in the microwave to make instant coffee and the computer to find out if the rest of the world is still out there. This may be the first gas-generated blog post you've ever read. Where there's a will there's a way.

But now I need to shut it off and plug the freezer in again. We'll survive but it sure is unhandy.

End Of The Season

2011-08-24T17:04:00.000-04:00

I am exhausted in body but gratified in spirit. This morning I got two 5/8 baskets of big solid canning tomatoes at a nearby farm. I slopped around all day turning them into my own version of V-8 juice and tomato soup. I had enough pizza and spaghetti sauce left from last year so I wasn't going to make any this year. But 48 pts. of juice and soup later, I still had another 1.5 gallons of juice left. I decided it can be spaghetti sauce after all but didn't have all the ingredients on hand. I stuck the juice in the frig to wait for processing until another day. What was I thinking? I probably have enough tomatoes to last us two years!

The Big 4 of the August harvest have been conquered for another year---corn, peaches, apples, and tomatoes. I'll can one basket of pears yet and probably freeze a couple pie fillings. There may be some grapes but we didn't spray them so they probably won't amount to much.

Since there is only two of us here anymore a little food goes a long way compared to what it once did. As I was canning peaches I asked myself if it is worth the work for not more than we need. But I concluded it is because Leroy is diabetic and commercially processed foods have too much sugar for him. I can accommodate his diet by canning my own products. And home canned tastes better too.
With so many produce farmers around here these days I let them grow most of my fruits and vegetables. Our garden has shrunk to fresh-eating size. It has the look of fall now. All that's out there anymore is potatoes, tomatoes, and a short row of green beans that decided to do an encore.
As much as we enjoy eating fresh things, I am glad the rush is over and I can soon stash my canner away for another year. I won't have any trouble finding other things to do!

Sharing Knowledge

2011-08-16T19:39:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I like about volunteering at the historical society is that no two days are ever alike. Another of the benefits is the people I meet that I would probably never meet otherwise. This spring I met a man from California I had communicated with on genealogy via email but had never met. He happened to come in on one of my work days and we were both surprised to meet in the library. Today another lady came in who was only a name to me until we met there and since then we have helped each other with our projects.

Today I was working on getting a postcard collection ready for the archives when two couples walked in. One of them was my cousin, Nora Hoover, and her well-known historian husband, Amos. The couple with them was obviously Amish but I had no clue who they were until Amos introduced us. I was pleasantly surprised to learn he was David Luthy from Pathway Publishers in Ontario. And David and his wife had read some of my books and were also surprised when they heard my name. David immediately sent his wife upstairs to the bookstore to buy one of my books because he wanted an autographed copy.

Later in the day a lady came in to research her family history. I heard her telling Mary (the volunteer at the research desk) the surnames she was searching for. One of them was Beery. Mary knew nothing about the Beerys but that is a family I have done some work on so I butted in and referred the lady to some books on the shelf which I knew were her Beery line. She was very grateful and impressed with what she found in the books. Being able to help someone like that produces a satisfied feeling.

Someone has said, "You will be the same five years from now except for the people you meet and the books you read." The historical society is crammed with books and a place where the currents of people's lives can mingle and flow together for a time; then go on to carry the shared knowledge in different branches to other places and people.

Sharing knowledge increases its value. Keeping knowledge erodes power. Sharing is the fuel to your growth engine.

'Tis The Harvest Time

2011-08-09T16:52:00.001-04:00

The last half of July we were in the final preparations for Gerald's wedding. July 30 came and the wedding went off without a hitch. (Well, there WAS one hitch.) Then the following week I began catching up on all the things that I said could wait until "after the wedding." On Saturday I drew a deep breath and proclaimed I was caught up.

But I wasn't looking over my shoulder. While I was busy catching up on laundry, computer work, mail, cleaning, etc. the summer's produce was busily growing in the gardens and orchards. After only one day of rest (comparatively speaking; we had church and two picnics on Sunday) I woke up Monday morning to dive head first into the August canning rush.

On Monday Amy and I froze our corn for the winter and Leroy brought home two baskets of peaches. We were scheduled to be on the route today for Lantern Books so the peaches sat quietly in the patio turning more pink and juicy all day long. I sorted them when I got home and stashed one basket in the frig until morning. Then I went out in the garden and picked another basket of cucumbers, cabbage, and tomatoes. More stuff stashed in the bulging frig. Tomorrow will be peach day and the other things will have to wait their turn.

My canning season used to begin in June and run through October. Since we're a family of two now I don't need as much but for at least a couple weeks each summer there is something to can or freeze every day. It all adds up to good eating the rest of the year so I'm not complaining. When I think of the starving people in the horn of Africa I know I am mightily spoiled. I enjoy the harvest time and hearing the music of canning lids sealing but I'm glad I don't have to do it all year long.

Wedding Recap

2011-07-31T18:46:00.006-04:00

Here is a mini slide show of the wedding of Gerald and Kelly Stauffer on July 30, 2011

Cornerstone Mennonite Church, Ephrata, Pa.

Here comes the bride!

Larry Martin officiated at the ceremony

After they were pronounced man and wife, Gerald and Kelly took turns pouring white and purple sand in a container around their unity candle.

The unity candle was lit

Both sets of parents prayed a blessing on the marriage.

The Martin family of the bride

The Stauffer family of the groom

The bridal party

Leaving the church in a shower of bubbles

Convertible ride to the reception

Reception at Weaver's Banquet Hall

Some of the 230 guests

Those who are gone were not forgotten. On one table were four pictures of Gerald's relatives who were not with us. First in line was his Grandma Burkholder who died 18 years ago on this date. Then there was a picture of Grandpa Stauffer, Gerald's brother Steve, and cousin Ryan Boll.

After Gerald and Kelly gave the traditional speech thanking everyone for coming, Gerald had one more event planned which even Kelly did not know about. You can see him kneeling at his laptop beside the bridal table publically changing his Facebook status from "Engaged" to "Married." It's is official!

The bride and groom reflect on the happiest day of their lives.

Meanwhile, their brothers get their car ready to leave on the honeymoon. It was HIS dutchified brother who did the writing.

Heating Up

2011-07-22T10:09:00.000-04:00

We are now one week from the wedding and things are heating up---literally! When I saw the temperature was already at 82 at 7 a.m. I decided to forego my daily walk and hurry to get my housework done before it gets too hot. By 9 it was up to 90. By 9:45 my work was finished and I had retreated to my AC office until supper time. I can always find plenty to do in here.

The heat may slack off a few degrees by Sunday but forecasters say we will probably remain in the 90s the rest of the month. This is the third time one of our four sons selected a July date for his wedding. But we did the same thing so what can I say? At least these days churches and reception halls are air conditioned.

The pile of stuff pictured in my previous post has diminished somewhat but there is still a pile waiting to go whenever Gerald has time to take it. He is scrambling to get the bedroom finished. Hopefully the last coat of paint will go on tomorrow. Then they can move the furniture into it which will free another bedroom for storing things until they have time to find proper places for them.

Being the mother of the groom is not as stressful as being mother of the bride. I will need to get the food ready next week for the rehersal on Friday. That should not be a hardship. After that is over I can relax and enjoy the wedding.

I doubt Gerald thought about it when they chose July 30 for their wedding but that day it will be 18 years since we said good-by to my mother. I can think of her without grieving all over again but it will be nice to have a happy occassion to celebrate on that day.

Don't Be So Rammy

2011-07-16T15:15:00.000-04:00

Gerald and Kelly were engaged in October last year. Wedding plans were made, preparations began, and time moved along. Today we are two weeks away from the wedding. Things are coming together and the house is well enough along that what doesn't happen before the wedding can be done afterward.

Until we reached this point I thought I would get emotional at seeing the last one leave. But Gerald gently eased us into being empty nesters and I think I can handle it after all. He bought a house in January and started moving in February. At first he was here about half the time but gradually started staying at his house more and more. A couple weeks ago he got a washer and dryer. Now he doesn't even bring his laundry home anymore and we agreed he has officially moved out.

Last week he moved his roll top desk, a chest of drawers, and about four boxes of things to his house. He said he'll get the rest of it later. With the amount of time that is left and all there is to do yet, I could see "later" being much later until he had time to pack anything. The room badly needed cleaning but I wasn't going to attempt to clean around all the stuff. So this week I started packing for him. Here's the pile of boxes that's ready to go.

And here's what is still waiting for him to pack. It's his reloading bench. I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole!

Put those two piles together, add a bed, nightstand, dresser, chest of drawers, and roll top desk. See why I was only cleaning a path around the bed? Stuff collects. I've seen with the other sons that by the time they are in their late 20s they have outgrown a bedroom and need a house for their stuff.

At any rate, I woke up at 3 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Around 4 I got the grand idea that with all those boxes packed and Leroy here to help move furniture, this would be the perfect day to clean the room. It sounded like a wonderful plan and I tore into it. By 11 my energy was running out and I was asking myself whose dumb idea this was. But I was too deep into it to quit.

It's a good feeling to have that room clean and ready to be used as a guest room. But next time I get a brainy idea at 4 a.m. remind me to take a deep breath first and not be so rammy.

Art Exhibition

2011-07-11T08:53:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we were invited to attend the Opening Reception of the art exhibition at the Reading Museum. Of the 300 pieces that were entered, 141 were chosen to be on display in the museum until September 11. Amy, our daughter-in-law was in the top ten and received an award for her piece titled "Oblivion. "

This prize-winning leopard is done on a black ink-covered board called a scratchboard. The image is scratched on the surface with a razor. The color is added after the scraching is completed.

Hundreds of people showed up for the opening. It was interesting to stand back and watch people look at Amy's leopard. They would go up really close looking at all the fine details in the leopard's fur. One lady said, "He looks so real it seems like you could pet him." (Click to enlarge and you can get an idea of the detail; seeing the original is much better.)

Amy is self-taught and has had no formal training in art. She is doing very well and we are proud of her accomplishment.

Fill My Mouth

2011-07-08T15:18:00.000-04:00

My mother had a note tacked on her frig for a long time. I thought it was a poem but this is all I could remember
"Lord, fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff and nudge me when I've said enough."
I often wished I could find that poem or whatever it was. Today it occurred to me that I might be able to find it on the Internet. I could not find a poem with those words. It appears that was the entire quote. But I did find another poem Mom also had posted in her kitchen. This prayer was answered. She is still remembered as an excellent Sunday school teacher. In her two-month illness before her death she had 600 visitors. She DID have a few friends in the end!

An Anonymous Prayer

Written in the 17th. century

Lord, thy knowest better than I know myself

that I am growing older and will someday be old.

Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say

something on every subject and, on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs
Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy,

With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all.

But, Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind from the recitals of endless details.

Give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips on my aches and pains.

They are increasing and love of rehearsing them

is becoming sweeter as the time goes by.

I do not ask for Grace enough to enjoy the tales

of other's pain but, help me endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but, for a

growing humility and a lessening cocksureness

when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken

Keep me reasonably sweet

I do not want to be a Saint.

Some of them are so hard to live with.

But, a sour person is the works of the Devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in

unexpected places and talents in unexpected people.

And, give me, O Lord, the Grace to tell them so!

Trash to Treasure

2011-07-06T14:35:00.002-04:00

My cousin Melvin was a self-employed contractor for most of his life and had several buildings stuffed with leftover building supplies and all kinds of things he and his wife collected during the more than fifty years they lived at that place. He died last winter and his widow had a public auction this spring.

It wasn't the kind of thing I was interested in so I didn't go along and Leroy didn't buy much either. But he did bring home one thing we were both pleased with. Somewhere along the way Melvin had obtained an old wooden pump our mutual Burkholder grandpa had stored in his barn for years. No one knows where Grandpa got it.

Leroy spent a lot of time cleaning and painting the metal parts on the pump. Then he put a coat of Woodlife on it to preserve the wood. He put a piece of PVC pipe around the lower end to protect the part that is underground. Then he laid a circle of red sandstones around the base to simulate a well. Setting up against the front wall of the house places it under the protection of the roof.

Next he dug out the pump trough he bought at his dad's sale a few years ago and fashioned legs for it from some old strap hinges. They made fancy legs with a cute curl on the bottom. He plans to get the trough powder coated so it will not rust but here it is as it looks today. (click to enlarge)

I just wish I could ask Grandpa where the old wooden pump came from. Is it something he brought home from one of his carpenter jobs or did it once stand on the well at their home? I remember a metal pump outside the kitchen but this wooden one might have been there when they bought the place about 1914. After being in storage for many years, this old pump now has a new lease on life and a prominent position where it can be admired.

Stauffer Family Car Show

2011-06-27T18:34:00.002-04:00

When I first learned to know Leroy in 1961 he drove a white 1953 Chevy. Check those fender skirts and wide whitewall tires!

When we started dating he drove a black 1964 Corvair which his dad bought brand new for him. I liked that cute little car.

The year before we were married he bought a brand new1966 Chevelle. That was the last brand new car he ever owned. Eventually one of our sons bought it and its back in our garage waiting to be restored.

In 1978 Leroy bought a 1967 Chevelle with about 30,000 miles on it. Another son bought this car when we were finished with it and restored it. There it is in all its glory at the head of the line at his wedding. He is very sentimental about that car because he came home from the hospital, got engaged, and took his first ride as a married man in it. Now they are expecting their first child and I'm not surprised if he brings his newborn home from the hospital in it.

With a family of six children in 1990 we could not afford anything fancy when it was time to replace the 1967 Chevelle. So we bought a 19-year old car on a public auction. This 1971 Olds also had about 30,000 miles on it which was the selling point. It was purchased new in 1971 and driven by an old lady who went to a nursing home in 1990. She proudly told us she ordered that color and it is called "Bittersweet." This was the ugly duckling of our cars. Our children were embarrassed to be seen in an orange car and called it "the pumpkin." But it was as solid as a rock and served us well.

No one wanted the pumpkin when we replaced it in 1998 with a 1995 Pontiac which was a more acceptable dark green color. It had 47,000 miles on it and we put another 200,000 on it. We did go on some trips in it but the majority of the miles were put on just running around in little circles to school, the grocery store, church, etc. It still runs but has some aging problems that would cost more to fix than the car is worth. After 13 years, we decided it is time to turn it out to pasture and get something newer.

On Saturday Leroy took the plunge and bought a gray 2007 Buick Lucerne CX. It has 26,000 miles on it. This is an old man's car, built for comfort and a smooth ride. I think we will like it.

So there you have it. The Stauffer Family Car Show. We had four cars in the 44 years of our married life and drove them for an average of eleven years. I'm not going to tell you how old Leroy will be in eleven years from now. It's a number too fierce to mention.

Don't Miss the Boat

2011-06-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

The theme for our Bible School this year was "Don't miss the boat" and centered on the story of Noah and the flood. The two couples in charge of Bible School did an outstanding job of keeping the children's attention and making it a memorable week. The display in the pulpit area changed each night as Noah, his wife, and three sons came to talk to us. I should have taken my camera earlier in the week but I waited until the last night and that was a mistake. On the last night the flood was over and the ark was empty. But maybe you can get a partial idea of the scene from these pictures.

It might be a little hard to see but this is a wooden barrel filled with peanuts.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it you might be able to see the marks Noah made on the upper right side of the wall to show how many days they were in the ark. The short lines represent the days he waited for the birds to come back after the waters had gone down.

Electronic Gadgets

2011-06-22T14:25:00.000-04:00

My camera has been acting strange lately and I interpret that as a warning it is soon going to give up the ghost. Gene bought this digital camera when he lived in Oregon for a year way back in the previous century (1999). I bought the camera from him when he got married. It has served me well for five years but a camera that is more then ten years old is quite elderly (as cameras go) and not worth trying to repair.

I don't have the male hunter-gatherer instinct so I don't need a big shooter. My female nesting instinct prefers a little thing I can carry in my purse. But when it comes to replacing electronic gadgets, I am technology-challenged. I don't know how to compare the features or tell what I am getting. Gene and Daryl both bought new digital cameras in the last six months so I am going to depend on them for advice before I take the plunge. One thing I know, it will be a digital camera. After I learned how to use a digital camera I soon knew I will never go back to film. Funny how quickly luxuries can become necessities.

I never thought I needed a cell phone either but one year Leroy got a phone for me for my birthday. Yes, it does come in handy sometimes. If I can find a camera that is as senior friendly as this phone I'll be good to go!

Sister's Day

2011-06-17T07:44:00.002-04:00

We had a Sister's Day yesterday to help my oldest sister celebrate her birthday. She chose to have us help her with some work at the Juniata History Center where she is director. In two hours we boxed about eight years worth of Mennonite Weekly Review papers for storage in the archives. We could have worked on it all day and not have finished but at least we made a small dent in the pile. I had to practice some self-control and not let myself read the papers. I did make copies of the front page of two of them which caught my eye.

We went to a little restaurant for lunch and then spent the afternoon at the cabin putting the final two coats of paint on the new wall we installed on Memorial Day. Our spackling job leaves something to be desired but it is still a big improvement.

Before

After

What we sisters do is not as important as just being together. There was one 30-second pause when no one said anything but then we got a second wind and were good to go again. It was a fun day!

Family Weekend

2011-06-13T10:42:00.000-04:00

The second weekend in June is our annual family weekend. The plan is to spend a weekend at a cabin one year and do a sightseeing day trip on alternate years. There have been some years when the date had to be adjusted (like the year we were on a tour to Israel) and some years we had to go with Plan B due to weather that did not cooperate with our sightseeing trip. Where we go and what we do isn't as important to me as just spending time together as a family.

This year we went to Arthur Shirk's cabin on the Texter Mountain. It was the first time we were there and I liked it for a couple reasons. 1. It was close to home so we didn't have to drive a couple hours to get there 2. It is in a secluded part of the mountain so it felt like we were way out back somewhere 3. The cabin was big enough for all 28 of us to eat and sleep under the same roof. I was especially glad for that when the weekend was punctuated by showers and thunderstorms.

The rain politely controlled itself during the day so the children could play outside. They enjoyed the swings, sliding board, and bike trails as well as the variety of activities their imaginations produced. The adults and teenagers played some games too but I was satisfied with being a spectator to whatever was going on.

Another blessing at this cabin was the under-roof fire pit. We had planned a hot dog and mountain pie roast for Saturday supper. Dale started getting ready to build a campfire but the looks of the sky changed his mind. We transferred the firewood to the pit and the rain began just as the fire blazed up. We could go on with our supper as planned.

We went to our own church Sunday morning because it was my turn to teach the ladies class. After church we took Leroy's mother along back to the cabin for dinner and the afternoon. Here she is with our nine grandchildren and her great-grandchildren.

And here we are with our grandchildren and five bonus ones that call us Grandpa and Grandma. (Our tenth grandchild is still in hiding and will make his/her appearance at the end of the year.)

I had a great time just enjoying the privilege of having everyone together. We are so blessed to have a family that can get together, have a good time, and all go home still friends. Even the children get along very well. If there were any disagreements among them it was over so quickly I wasn't aware of it. One more weekend has been added to my grandma's treasure box of memories.

Keepsake Dresses

2011-06-08T16:42:00.002-04:00

I just finished making my dress for Gerald's wedding. This is the last dress I'll make for a son's wedding. It is still seven weeks in the future but I hate doing things at the last minute. I would rather have the dress hanging in my closet for seven weeks than have to scramble to finish it the week of the wedding. I was told to wear pink for this wedding and bought the fabric when we were in Nicaragua in February. It's an emboridered cotton which should be comfortable for a summer wedding.

As I was hemming the dress I thought it is probably destined to someday join the other keepsake dresses in my cedar closet. I have worn out or given away many of my dresses over the years but there are some I keep for sentimental reasons. (I had no sentimental attachment to my maternity dresses and happily parted with them when Gerald was born!!) I have a couple little dresses I wore before I went to school, the one I wore for my baptism when I was ten, a rust-colored taffeta I wore when I was thirteen and fancied I was an elegant lady. Then there is a blue satin bridesmaid's dress I wore more than forty years ago, my white lace-over-taffeta wedding dress, the silver dress I wore for our 25th anniversary, the dresses I wore for our children's weddings, and the black one I wore for the funerals of my mother and our 18 year-old son (only five months apart).

One thing I've learned is that children do not leave the way they came. The six children we raised (plus one stillborn) came to us in a fifteen-year span but it is twenty years since the first one left the nest. The youngest is leaving last but the one who was third-born was the first to marry. Our only daughter married at the age of 20 but the boys waited a little longer, marrying anywhere between the ages of 23 and 29. Now we've come to the end of the line and my pink dress is ready and waiting to be worn at the last wedding. I'll wear it after the wedding for awhile but I expect it will eventually join the line up of keepsake dresses in my closet.

June in the Country

2011-06-06T10:43:00.002-04:00

I don't know how it is where you live but to me, June is many lovely things--blue skies, warm air, roses, strawberries, the smell of drying hay.

I love the open country

Where everything seems clean;

And the wide spread of beauty

With many shades of green

I love the hills and valleys

That sleep 'most anywhere;

And the tall quiet mountains

With cloud-dust in their hair.

I love the verdant meadows

Where flowers bloom so bright;

And orchards, oh so fragrant,

With blossoms pink and white.

I love the harrowed gardens

That wait with upturned face;

And the winds softly touching

The seedlings now in place.

I love to hear birds singing

In treetops overhead;

And listen to them saying

A prayer before their bed.

I love the open country,

Now especially in June,

When symphonies are playing

And nature is in tune.

(Gertrude Rudberg)

The roses on the rail fence in front of my house have put on a dazzling display of beauty this year. (Click to enlarge)

Memorable Weekend

2011-05-31T08:25:00.001-04:00

We spent the weekend at our cabin in Union County. My dad built the cabin in 1984, two years before he died and it passed on to his children.

Each spring we sisters go together to do cleaning and maintenance around the place. This year it worked best for us to go on Memorial Day weekend. That gave us an extra day to do the larger work project of putting drywall on one of the living room walls. Our parents said "someday" the walls would be finished and we've been working at it slowly the past seven years or so. This is how the living room wall looked before we started. (The end wall was done in 2007.)

On Monday two coats of undercoat were applied to the new wall. We will go back June 16 to put the color coat on.

Our work was interrupted on Monday when I went outside and found a big black snake stretched out on the ground along the edge of the porch. It crawled under Leroy's truck and coiled up on the spare tire. Poking and prodding didn't help so he sprayed some kind of chemical in there. That convinced the critter he didn't like it in there after all and he came out. It scolded us by sticking out its tongue at us and shaking its tail. We didn't want to kill it because black snakes are not poisonous and are actually beneficial since they keep the rodent population down and scare away rattlesnakes. But we didn't want it hanging around the cabin either so we chased it into the woods.

To quote my little nephew, "At least we saved our lives." :-)

Encore

2011-05-27T12:23:00.000-04:00

The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society has asked me to be one of the story tellers at the Encore festival being held at the Garden Spot Village on June 4. Since this retirement community is located at New Holland, Pa., I decided to tell some stories from my book Annie's Day of Light. The book tells the story of the life of my paternal grandmother who lived on the opposite side of town. The book is over 600 pages. It should not be a problem to fill my twenty minute time slot. Maybe we'll even sell some books. :-) We will be under a canopy so I hope it's not a windy, rainy day.

You can see the schedule here:

http://www.encorethefestival.org/artisan_alley.php

I'm Done!

2011-05-24T16:12:00.000-04:00

At 2:15 this afternoon I handed in my resignation and walked away from one of my volunteer jobs. For the past three months I've been working on cleaning the house Gerald bought in January and began moving into in February. I tried to go once day each week but with him working nights and sleeping days there were some weeks when it did not work for me to be there any day. Today I cleaned the sink window and the two dining room windows. And that's it folks!

Kelly's family is planning to go do some painting this weekend. That will make a huge difference and greatly improve the appearance inside the house. But the layer of old stale dirt had to be washed off before it could be painted. I'm not much of a painter and don't enjoy it but I sling a mean scrub rag. So I scrubbed away and now it's ready for the painters.

Most of what Gerald has done so far was pressure washing the outside of the house, painting the shed, and cleaning up the landscaping. He has ordered some new windows and roofing materials, hoping to get that done sometime in the next month or six weeks and have it ready for his bride to move in with him by the end of July.

At any rate, I think I have done what I'm able to do and have worked myself out of a job.

Shower

2011-05-23T08:01:00.004-04:00

The sound of wedding bells is ringing louder. A bridal shower was given yesterday for Gerald and Kelly. He knew about it and saw she got to the proper place as the proper time. She was not as clueless as we hoped. She said she suspected it because the weekend was too well planned too long in advance. They didn't usually make plans for the weekend before Friday and the plans were all in place by Wednesday. Even if she was not shocked by the surprise, the shower was a success. The object was to shower them with gifts and that part certainly happened. Some of the gifts can be put to use right away as he is already living in their house and was limping along with a minimum of towels, etc.

He watched some of the time while she opened and her sister recorded the gifts.

My gift was a wedding sampler I finished cross-stitching in February. It took me five hours to do the lacy border between the two clusters of flowers on the bottom corners. That should give you a little idea of the difficulty of the pattern. It was a labor of love and the last one I'll do.

Observations

2011-05-18T11:25:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a very full day and I made some interesting observations as the day progressed.
It was my regular day to work at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. A group of Jr. High students was scheduled to come for a field day. I showed four groups of students through the museum. After the first set I shortened my opening schpeel and spent the time showing them objects to try keep their attention. A few of the students were interested and listened but most of them could have cared less about what I was saying. Give me senior citizens any day! At least they stand in one spot and listen.
After the tour we guides stayed in the room to answer questions while the students had a scavenger hunt. They were supposed to find the objects in the museum that were listed on their paper and write down something they learned about it. One of the boys asked me what the kerosene lamp was. After he was told how it worked he asked, "But what was it used for?" I told him, "For light!" He said, "Oh, for light" and scribbled the answer on his paper.
The next part of the field trip was a tour of the facilities. When they were shown what the computers in the library were used for they sat right down and tried them out. After the students left, one of the researchers who was in the library exclaimed about how much those young people knew. He said, "They didn't have to be told how to use the computers. They just sat down and did it. I don't know how to use those things." I just smiled to myself and thought, Maybe so, but they have no clue what a kerosene lamp is or even what it is for! I'm sure that man would have known (without asking) exactly what a kerosene lamp was and how it worked.

Observation: We are all ignorant, just on different subjects.

This is graduation season and we attended another one in the evening. This time it was Gerald's fiancee, Kelly, graduating from Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) with an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education.

The ceremonies were held in the Large Arena of the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg and was for all the graduates of the Lancaster, Lebanon, Gettysburg, York, and Harrisburg HACC campuses. We got there early enough to get good seats and reserve enough for Kelly's family.
The speeches were not as long and boring as they were at Gerald's graduation last year and it only took an hour and a half instead of three hours. Another great difference I noticed was that it was completely secular. There was no mention of God at any time and no prayer of any kind. Gerald's Alma mater is a Catholic university and there was a religious tone throughout his graduation. At this one the idea seemed to be you are your own master and the world is your oyster. I'm sorry, but human wisdom and efforts are not strong enough to be a solid foundation for life.
Observation: I'm glad Kelly has a solid foundation on which to build her life. We congratulate her for finishing her course and graduating with the highest honors. On July 30 she will add three more letters to her name (MRS) and change it to Stauffer.

Wild Weekend

2011-05-16T07:28:00.006-04:00

We spent the weekend in Ohio with our daughter and her family. We left Friday afternoon and got there just in time to attend the high school graduation of our oldest grandchild. Here is Jeremy with his diploma. It seems like just yesterday when his mother graduated from high school. The longer the wheel of time turns the faster it spins.

On Saturday we went to a 10,000-acre nature and wildlife preserve at Cumberland, Ohio, called "The Wilds." They have a lot more animals now than they did when we were there in 1998. It was too cool for the giraffes to be out but we saw two kinds of Rhinos, Cheetahs, Bison, Zebras, African Wild Dogs, Oryx, Sable Antelopes, Takin (from China), Trumpeter Swans, Camels, and other rare or endangered species. My favorite was the baby White Rhino just born this year. Unfortunately, my photo is fuzzy. This is the Asian Rhino.

We took the two and a-half hour tour in an open bus so we could get better pictures but had to switch to a closed bus when rain moved in. Since the animals are on open range we were not able to get as close to some of them as in a zoo where they are in pens but it was great to see them in munching on the grass in natural surroundings.
If you ever are in that area, it is a worthwhile tour. In the meantime, you can learn more about it at http://www.thewilds.org/.

Mother's Day News

2011-05-10T07:22:00.005-04:00

Mother's Day was great. Gene invited us for dinner and cooked the meal himself. I thought maybe he'd grill something but he made lasanga and salad. It was very good. And I didn't have to cook--or do dishes afterward. Gene and Leroy did those.
The most exciting thing this Mother's Day was the announcement Gene made just before we ate. He and Amy are expecting their first child in December. It was not a total shock as we knew they were ready to start a family but they saved the announcement for Mother's Day.

Grandchildren do not come to us as easily as they do to some people. We have six adopted and three natural grandchildren. The youngest of those is six, so we are excited about having a baby in the family again. One thing I have learned, being an expectant grandmother sure is a lot more comfortable than being the mother. If this one comes a bit early it could even be on my birthday.

Attic Treasures

2011-05-06T08:07:00.006-04:00

I've been saying for several years that I need help to clean our attic. A lot of things have been stashed in there that should have been thrown out right away. We can do our children a favor by throwing out our junk ourselves instead of leaving it for them to clean out someday. Some of the things were too big for me to drag out without help. But it is too hot to work in there in the summer, too cold in the winter, and the spring and fall seasons kept passing by.
I guess Leroy got tired of hearing about it and finally was motivated to help. We did not have a Saturday available so we started working on it evenings last week. One thing that was in our favor is that our attic is limited to crawl space behind the walls of the upstairs bedrooms. I can't imagine how it would have looked if we had a full attic.

We worked on the one side of the attic two evenings and it began looking a lot better. I kept the home fires burning to get rid of as much as I could that way. There is still a non-working air conditioner and computer piled right inside the door waiting to go to the recycling place when I have a free Saturday. I told myself this is what happens when you live in the same house for 43 years with a man who can't bear to throw anything away. But if sitting in the attic for 20 or 30 years didn't fix it, I don't expect another ten or fifteen years will do any more good.
Last night we finished cleaning that half of the attic. The things that were left have more sentimental value and there wasn't as much to throw out. I brought two boxes down to go through and clean up. We had a lot of fun just looking through the stuff last night. I found my old diary from 1964, some of Leroy's pay stubs from the early 60s when he worked for $1.25 hr., the letters and cards we sent each other when we were dating, and lots of other interesting things. I brought the letters down to read and see if we should leave them for our posterity or let our secrets die with us. :-)
The most pleasant surprise I had was opening an old fruitcake tin and finding a pair of glass perfume bottles that always set on my mother's dresser. We did not find them when we emptied Mom's house for estate sale and I always wondered what had become of them. They were in my attic all these years? When did they leave Mom's dresser and get mixed into my things? I have no idea but it probably happened before I was married.

I don't know the dollar value of these old perfume bottles but I believe Mom got them before she was married in 1944. The only marking on them is on the bottom where it says, "Made in Occupied Japan." That identifies them as WWII era. But they are not for sale (unless my siblings want to contest my right to have them and schedule a family auction). Finding them in time for this weekend is my Mother's Day comfort and connection to Mom.

Mother's Day

2011-05-05T09:37:00.013-04:00

This Sunday is Mother's Day. My mother was almost 21 when I was born and she died at the age of 66 so I had a mother on earth for 45 years. My husband is 67 and his mother is still with us. Sometimes I feel like I got shortchanged. Mother's Day always stirs up those memories and feelings. But my loss was her gain and she certainly earned her eternal reward. I wouldn't want to shortchange her of the rest and peace she is enjoying in Heaven.

"Little but oh my!" That was Mom. She was only 4' 10" tall but she was a spiritual giant. She never went further than eighth grade in school but she had more wisdom that some people who have earned a Phd.
Mom loved to read and passed that love of books on to her children by reading to us every day. When one of us started school she took time to read a few verses from the Bible and pray with that child every morning before the school bus came. At the end of second grade she told us that we can read well enough now to have our own devotions. In this way she helped us learn to read and to have a daily devotional time.
Mom taught the ladies Sunday School class every Sunday for many years. I never realized how much time that took to study every week until I started teaching twice each month. She is still remembered as one of the best teachers we had in Sunday school. When she was in her sixties she chose a title and theme verse for each chapter in the Bible and memorized the list. She reviewed the list constantly so she would not forget. If I wanted to know where to find something in the Bible I just asked Mom and she could tell me without looking it up in a concordance.
Mom's Bible knowledge was the basis of her wisdom but some of it was just common sense with a down-to-earth (and touch of humor) approach.
Mom taught me
* proper self-esteem: "Get to work. You're not just here for pretty."
* to overcome fear of the dark: "Don't worry, nothing will get you. And if it does, in the morning when it sees what it got it will bring you back."
* work ethics: "The quickest way to do a job is to do it right the first time."
* nonresistance: "It takes two to fight."
* respect for authority: "Because I said so, that's why."
* logic: "If you fall and break your neck, don't come crying to me."
* medical science: "Carrots are good for your eyes. You'll never see a rabbit wearing glasses.
* compassion: "If you were as near dead as you make it sound you couldn't cry that loud."

I learned a lot from Mom about faith AND works. I managed to get as tall as she was but she still towers over me in other ways. In July it will be eighteen years since she left us but I think of her often and every Mother's Day I still miss her. Thanks for life Mom!

Truth For Today

2011-05-02T20:17:00.007-04:00

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Matthew 5:44

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil . . . Do not take revenge . . . but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord . . . Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good." Romans 12: 19-21 (NIV)

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, for the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him." Proverbs 24:17-18 (NIV)

Judas Asparagus

2011-04-27T10:59:00.006-04:00

The Children's Bible in a Nutshell

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, "The Lord thy God is one," but I think He must be a lot older than that.

Anyway, God said, "Give me a light!" and someone did. Then God made the world.
He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden . . . Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharoah after God sent ten plagues on Pharoah's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, "Close the door! Were you born in a barn?" It would be nice to say, "As a matter of fact, I was.")
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. He also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trail before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

A Season And A Place

2011-04-26T19:21:00.005-04:00

I have seen more than sixty springs, yet every year I am amazed again at the rapid rebirth of the earth. A few warm days and the landscape turns a lovely shade of green almost overnight. This is the third day in a row the temperature has reached or exceeded eighty degrees. Flowering trees have burst into bloom and the others are sporting a new crop of pale green baby leaves. The daffodils are almost over and the tulips are now in full bloom. Behind the garage a large patch is purple with violets that decided they liked that spot and made themselves at home. Their tribe is increasing each year.

This week I moved my jungle of potted plants out of the house and into their summer quarters in the patio. The Gerber lily that wintered on the unheated patio actually survived and is blooming beautifully. The other pot that spent most of the winter in the patio was an experiment. A friend gave me a pack of Texas Bluebonnet seed. The instructions said to plant the seed in the fall but I was sure it wouldn't survive outdoors in this part of the world. So I planted the seeds in a pot and nursed the little plants through the long cold winter. For months I hauled that pot indoors overnight so the plants wouldn't freeze and then back out in the morning to try get enough light so they don't turn yellow and die. This week I was rewarded for all this tender loving care with a spike of blue flowers. My poor little bluebonnet is little, pale, and sickly in comparison to the pictures I have seen of the wildflowers in their natural habitat. But I admire my poor little flowers for struggling through a bitter cold winter and blooming in a hostile environment.

Each part of the world had plants and animals that are suited to that particular environment and thrive there. Sometimes things can be transplanted to another part of the world and survive but generally it is best to leave them where they belong. The soil and climate in Pennsylvania is not suitble for Texas Bluebonnets and even though I coaxed one to bloom it is not as big or beautiful as it would be in Texas. But then, Pennsylvania has some things that do not survive in Texas---like snow! There's a season and a place for everything.

The Majesty and Glory of Easter

2011-04-21T07:41:00.004-04:00

My mother used to say it won't stay warm until after Easter. This year Easter is later in the spring than usual. When I saw Easter is not until April 24 I thought surely spring will be here to stay before that. But Mom was right. We've had a warm day here and there but it did not stay warm. We've had a cool rainy spring but the daffodils bloomed right on schedule, the tulips are starting to bloom, and the grass is ready to mow for the first time. Easter is finally here so now it can get warm and stay warm. I'm ready!
Our family's Easter traditions have changed over the years. When I was a girl we colored eggs at Easter until Mom got tired of the eggs spoiling because no one ate them. I never colored eggs with my children but I did make chocolate covered peanut butter eggs for them. Now I use molds to make finger jello eggs in a variety of colors. Somewhere along the way I got a recipe for cheese filled coffee cake which I make only once a year for our Easter breakfast. Since my parents are both gone my family has dropped the Christmas dinner and has an Easter dinner instead.
I have often wondered if Christmas or Easter is the most important of our annual holidays and came to the conclusion that the two cannot be separated. Christmas is the promise of redemption laid in a manger; Easter's empty tomb is the fulfillment of the promise. The basis for both is the divinity of Jesus Christ. The miracle of the virgin birth paved the way for the miracle of the resurrection. His resurrection is the proof He was the virgin born Son of God. If He was not the Son of God He would not have risen from the dead; if He had not risen there would be no basis for our faith. The resurrection is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions. The founders of other religions are dead; ours is alive.
During the first year after Steve's death (1994 at age 18) the fact of the resurrection became more real to me. I know exactly where I was the moment it happened. I was washing the kitchen floor when I heard someone on the radio say, "Think of the most impossible thing you would like to see happen. God can do it!" Of course, the thing I most wanted was to see Steve again. I thought Ha! Let's see Him raise the dead. That thought was instantly followed by He did! He can! He will!! Maybe not right at this moment, but as surely as God fulfilled His promise to send us a Redeemer He will keep His promise to raise the dead.
Easter is the proof that Jesus conquered death and the grave. It is the guarantee that death is not the end of life and the words of Jesus are true. "I am the resurrection and the life; He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." That is the majesty and glory of Easter!

Mini-blinds

2011-04-14T16:36:00.004-04:00

When I was a girl at home, my mother put Venetian blinds in our downstairs windows. I was old enough to help with the cleaning and those wide metal slats had to be dusted every week. I hated cleaning them and declared I would never have blinds in my house. I kept my word and never have.

Did you ever notice how fads and fashions seem to rotate? Things that went out of style in the 60s and 70s are now back in style. After Venetian blinds had been out of style for awhile someone decided it was time to bring them back. The slats were multiplied by narrowing them down and the result was mini-blinds. A generation has risen up that knew not the horrors of cleaning blinds, latched onto the new "cool" look and installed mini-blinds all over their houses. But I had not forgotten and no mini-blinds ever covered my windows. So why was I down on my hands and knees on the front portch this afternoon scrubbing mini-blinds with a scrub brush?

They are not mine! Gerald bought a house in January which needs quite a bit of cleaning. That's not a good environment for a person who is allergic to household dust and mites. I've been working on it and bit by bit and the place is beginning to improve. On Monday I cleaned all the windows in the three bedrooms upstairs and brought home the mini-blinds from two of the rooms. I figured it would be easier clean them in between other things here at home than trying to do them at his house.

One of our other sons also bought a house several years ago that had mini-blinds everywhere. Those were dirty too but they cleaned relatively easily by dipping them up and down in a bathtub full of soapy water and then hosing them off outside over the rail fence. Apparently the dirt on these blinds had been on them much longer for it was stuck fast and no amount of dipping or hosing would remove the thick layer of grime. So after soaking them all morning I wound up out on the porch scrubbing each miserable mini-slat with a scrubbing brush and heavy-duty cleaner.

As I scrubbed away I was struck with the irony of the situation. I was never going to have blinds because I don't want to clean them, and here I am cleaning a house full of them for the second time. What would motivate a woman to do that? The only thing I know is a mother's love and ingrained German hatred of grime.

I asked myself if I have gone back on my vow and decided I have not. I never said I would not clean mini-blinds, I only said I would never have them in my house. And I only do them once. I will give my sons a clean start in their houses but after that it is up to them and their wives to keep them clean. And when they get tired of cleaning mini-blinds they can come over on my side and throw out the miserable things.

High Hopes Realized

2011-04-10T15:18:00.008-04:00

The trip to Virginia was great and my high hopes were realized. What a blessing to have a sister for a traveling companion who enjoys the same things I do!

We began our research day at 8 a.m. Thursday. I had made a list of things we could do and was surprised to actually reach the end of the list by 6 p.m. We visited the courthouse in Harrisonburg, three cemeteries, a heritage center, and a farm owned by Peter Burkholder in the late 1700s and early 1800s. We even went on one bunny trail that was not on my list and wound up driving back a dirt lane through a pasture in (an unsuccessful) search of a historical marker. The sunny warm weather was perfect for outdoor activities and photography. By the end of the day I felt satisfied that I had collected the information I need to document the statements in my Burkholder article.

The three Burkholder legends I am shattering are these:

1. Peter Burkholder traveled to Lancaster County in 1799 to visit his family, got sick and died, and was buried in the Groffdale Mennonite Cemetery.

Facts: Peter did not die in Pa. in 1799. He died in 1812 and is probably buried with his wife in Virginia.

2. Peter's daughter Anna Magdalena married Daniel Brenneman and died in Indiana in 1865. Facts: Peter's estate documents show her name was Anna, her husband was David Brenneman, and she died before 1813.

3. The house in Harrisonburg where church services were held before a church building was constructed was the home of Peter Burkholder Jr.

Facts: Peter Burkholder Jr. certainly preached in that house but a deed search proves he never owned the property.

Here is a picture of Peter Burkholder's farm at the foot of the hill where Trissels Mennonite Church now stands. This is the land that was surveyed for him in 1792 and for which he received a patent in 1801 (after he supposedly died in Pa.).

The second day of our time in Virginia was spent at the annual Writer's Conference sponsored by Christian Light Publications. My sister and I both were in the workshops on story writing in the morning and afternoon sessions. I got an update from one of the men on the book committee on the status of my new book. It is being processed but the wheels grind exceedingly slow and it may not be on the market until next year. They were not exactly sitting on their hands waiting for me to write a book. It is one of many in the lineup and I must wait my turn.

I should be able to wrap up the Burkholder article this week and have it ready to go when the editor begins working on it. And then I guess I can pick a new project. What shall it be?

High Hopes

2011-04-06T11:15:00.004-04:00

I am preparing to leave my husband this afternoon. Don't worry. I'll be back.

My sister and I are going to Harrisonburg, Va., to spend Thursday researching Burkholders and attending the annual Writer's Conference at Christian Light Publications on Friday.

On Thursday, I hope to find the last pieces of evidence I need to fully prove Peter Burkholder did not die in Pa. in 1799 but was still living in Va. until 1811. I am positive I am right because this week, thanks to the Library of Virginia website, I located the patent issued to Peter for 555 acres of land in Rockingham County in 1801. Dead men do not buy land! I also want to get copies of his estate settlement papers. With those documents in hand, I will be able to insert the last footnotes on my Burkholder article and finally complete that winter project.

On Friday my sister and I will attend the morning and afternoon sessions of Writer's Conference. We will not stay for the evening session because she needs to be home for Saturday. During the time I am there I hope to get an update from the editor on the current position of my new book in the publishing lineup and the projected release date. Perhaps I might be able to get a sneak preview of what they have in mind for the cover.

I'm setting off with high hopes and we shall see how many of them are realized when I return Friday night.

Burkholder Business

2011-04-01T08:44:00.007-04:00

After spending most of four months working on an article about the Burkholders, I am just about ready to say it is finished. I spent the first couple months writing about the Burkholder immigrants and their Swiss ancestry. In the process, I found some things about the descendants of Christian Burkholder that were either missing or garbled in the genealogy books.

After the article was finished I thought I should write down some of the things I found in my research about Christian's descendants and the documentation for the correct information. That led to listing all of Christian's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Every time I thought I was finished and reviewed it I would find something else that sent me on another search. In the end, I spent most of March putting this genealogy together.

Yesterday I wrapped up the project by visiting two historical societies and confirming the last bits I had marked in red. I came home and entered all the corrections and additions and am now pronouncing it finished. There are still a few people I could not find but so be it. A few blanks in a list of nearly 200 people is not excessive.

This article is supposed to be in the July issue of Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage. The editor is about to start working on it. I think it will be ready in time. I just need to collect one more piece of documentation on Christian's brother Peter next week when I go to Virginia (and hope it doesn't lead me down another trail) so I can finally wrap up this Burkholder business. Spring is here and other things are peeking over the horizon.

Empty Nesters

2011-03-24T08:18:00.003-04:00

Our six children arrived in a fifteen-year span of time. This year it will be twenty years since the first one left the nest. The last one will be married in July at the age of 27. Some of our friends have been empty nesters for many years and we are about to join their ranks.

Gerald bought a house in January and started moving into it in February. The first couple weeks he was still here about half the time but now is spending more time there than here. He still brings his laundry home and sleeps here once in awhile. And he is quite willing to accept cooked meals and baked things to take with him. His room here has not changed much except that his clothes are gone. His desk and other things will not leave until closer to the wedding when the house is more ready for his bride to join him there.

The house was a one-owner built in the 1940s by a man who died last September at the age of 101. He lived with his son the last eighteen months of his life so the house was empty for nearly two years. Kelly is finishing her degree and will graduate in May so she does not have a lot of time to spend at the house. This month I've been trying to go about once a week to do some serious cleaning. I tackled the kitchen first so it would be fit to eat in there. Now I'm working on the upstairs.

Having Gerald move gradually is making it easier for me to adjust to an "empty nest." I am getting some practice in cooking for two and getting used to not having anyone else around when we get up in the morning. No more talking in whispers because someone is still sleeping.

I felt blessed to be able to have children at home for more than forty years but the inevitable is coming to pass and it's time to let go. It is good to know our children are all able to take care of themselves. But our nest is not really empty. There are still two of us here.

Pot O' Gold

2011-03-17T08:57:00.002-04:00

Have an old freezer or refrigerator you want to get rid of? If you live in the area served by First Energy electric utility companies (MetEd, Penelec and Penn Power) you may be able to cash in on those old appliances. They will send someone out to pick up the old appliance for recycling and pay you $50 to boot.

We had an old upright freezer that I had not used for years because I didn't need it anymore and it ices up within a few days. We never got rid of it because it is such a pain to drag it up the steps out of the basement. When I saw the ad in the paper offering to take it off our hands for recycling I knew this was a deal I couldn't refuse.

The guys were just here, hauled it away, and gave me a receipt for a $50 check which will be mailed plus five free light bulbs. That's my little pot of gold on St. Patrick's Day!

You can get more information about the program here

http://www.firstenergycorp.com/energyefficiency/pennsylvania/residential/appliance_turn_in_program.html

Can't Win 'Em All

2011-03-12T16:15:00.009-05:00

I was still missing two bits of information I wanted for the article I'm writing on the Burkholders for the historical society's publication. Where are Christian Burkholder's son, Daniel, and his daughter, Barbara, buried?

After a long search that twisted and turned in several directions I found some leads. I'll spare you all the details of the chase but eventually I found both Daniel and his sister in Warwick Township, Lancaster County. (They were born in Earl Township which is just a hop and skip away.)

Barbara was born in 1772 and married Christian Weber. Not much is known of their family but I managed to find some documents related to the settlement of their estate in 1844 and 1845. They had a son Christian and daughter Ann, wife of Christian Zug, who lived in Lancaster County and a son Henry in Ohio. If they had other children, these three were their only surviving heirs. I have not found any trace of Christian and Barbara's burial place.

I suspect Christian and Barbara may be buried in the Burkholder cemetery at Lititz where her brother Christian is buried. That little family cemetery was vandalized and nearly destroyed when a development was built around it. Christian Burkholder Jr.'s stone is one few of the stones which remain intact. If Christian and Barbara Weber are there, their stones are long gone. Sigh! Can't win 'em all.

Daniel was born in 1770 and married Elizabeth Hess. In 1811 he was ordained a deacon for the Mennonite churches in Warwick Township. He died in 1856, two years before the Hess Mennonite Church (now owned by a Dunkard Brethren congregation) was built so he obviously could not have been buried there. My search eventually led me to the Hess Family Cemetery which is now within the Pebble Creek development about a mile down the road from the church.

I stopped at the little cemetery on my way to Lancaster on Tuesday and found two field stones clearly marked "Elisabeth Borkholder May 3, 1839" and "Barbara Borkholder 1844." These fit to be Daniel's wife and daughter. He recorded Barbara's death date as Nov. 19, 1844 in the family record in his Martyrs' Mirror.

(The first stone below is Elisabeth's and the second one is Barbara. The white coating is ordinary flour which I rubbed on the stone to make the writing stand out and be readable.)

The stone next to Elisabeth was lying down half buried in the ground and unreadable. I was sure it is Daniel's stone. I determined to go back with some help to turn it over and see what is on the other side.

This morning Leroy wanted to go to Lancaster County for some parts and was willing to help me dig up that stone. After all the rain we had this week the ground was soft and he was easily able to lift the stone with a crowbar and block of wood. He poured water from a jug while I operated the scrubbing brush. No luck! It was another field stone and the bottom was as blank as the top. It appeared the stone had originally been covered with a layer of plaster which has nearly all fallen off taking the writing with it. The writing on Elisabeth and Barbara's stones was etched right on the stone and proved to be more durable than the "nice" coating of plaster. Unless someone can prove otherwise, I am convinced that is Daniel's stone.

I have uncovered a lot of information in my research for this Burkholder article. Some of it changes commonly accepted stories that the documents prove are incorrect. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with what I could find and leave a few questions for someone else to answer someday. You can't win 'em all.

Trash or Treasure?

2011-03-09T13:18:00.004-05:00

I'm sure you've heard the old adage, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." But by what criteria do you decide if your (or someone else's) hoard is trash or treasure?

Yesterday was my volunteer day at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. The first job of the day was to help sort a huge pile of "stuff" that had been donated to the society. A certain gentleman (whom I'll refrain from naming) died recently and in preparing for estate sale his family donated his collection to the historical society.

I helped prepare for my mother's estate sale and know how much work is involved in getting ready for sale in a short time. This family did not have time to go through everything but neither did they want to throw away something that might be valuable. They solved their problem by donating the entire collection to the society. They probably walked away feeling they had done a good deed and placed the collection in good hands. The feeling of the staff was a bit different. What they got was not a treasure chest of goodies but a pile of work.

To begin with, the collection had been stored in the attic of a building with holes in the roof. Enter heat, rain, bugs, dirt, and whatever comes through holes in a roof. The papers were wet, dirty, and infested with bugs. The archivist who received the materials surrounded them with plastic and let them set out in the cold a day or two in hopes the bugs would freeze to death. A pair of silverfish can multiply in a hurry and have no respect for ancient paper when they are hungry. Any kind of paper-eating bugs cannot be tolerated in a historical society. They turn treasures into trash in short order.

After a few daty in the "freezer" the deceased gentleman's collection was moved into isolation in the basement. Then the "fun" began. First, the archivist had to determine what kinds of materials were thrown into the boxes. Now they are slowly being cleaned and sorted. I spent all morning cleaning and sorting just one box of "stuff" and there is a stack of about twenty more boxes waiting their turn. Every piece of paper must be wiped and books shaken to dump out bugs and eggs. After a box is cleaned and sorted the archivist will decide what is worth keeping and file it in an acid-free box. THEN it will finally be ready to be preserved in the archives.

When I was about half done cleaning the box I was working on I asked the archivist, "If he thought this stuff was worth keeping, why didn't he take better care of it?" He had no answer. Can you think of one?

In all fairness, there are some little treasures in the pile, but it is a lot of WORK to sort through the trash to find them. What am I trying to say here? If you think your papers are valuable, organize them in some fashion and store them in a safe place. Otherwise they become a pile of trash. Your trash may not be the historical society's treasure.

Nicaragua

2011-03-02T08:22:00.011-05:00

We're back! Our week of summer in Nicaragua was a nice break from winter. The trip down on February 21 went smoothly and we arrived in Managua on time. It was snowing when we left home and in the 90s when we arrived in Managua. Joel Heatwole met us at the airport and took us another two hours north to Leon where we stayed for a week.
The four men and two women in our group were split up and lodged in three houses with mission staff. We stayed with Nathan and Angie Miller who are from Nebraska. I think we had the best accommodations with a nice room and our own bathroom. (Age has its benefits!)

Paul and Gloria stayed with Richard and Andrea Burkholder (from PA). Merle and Ed stayed with Delmar Martin (from our church) and Joel Heatwole (from SC) in their bachelor pad. Merle and Ed slept on cots on the front porch (below). That should tell you something about the weather.

The main purpose of the trip was to build a house for an old lady in Leon. A native, Benito, joined the work crew. The five men moved the lady's stuff out of her house and tore it down in less than two hours on Tuesday morning. They left the block wall in place and reused some of the tin for the walls but replaced the rotted wooden corner posts with concrete ones and put on a completely new roof. It was finished on Friday morning. It doesn't look like much but she was crying, hugging, and kissing them and couldn't get done thanking them. She said it is the nicest house she ever had. The old house was full of holes and must have been a sea of mud in rainy season. The floor is still dirt but now she at least has a tight tin roof over her head.

Some of the men also helped another man lay block for his house and the others helped Delmar pull the pump out of his well and fix it.

Gloria and I spent most of our time cooking for the men but we also took the bus twice into the city to go shopping. We hit all the fabric stores and 51 yds. of fabric came home with me. (Gloria had 42 yds.)

After the work was finished Friday (Feb. 25) we were free to do some sightseeing. Delmar took the men to see a huge cathederal and old prison on Friday afternoon while Gloria and I cooked a PA Dutch meal for all the mission workers and some of the natives. We made ham loaf, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, cabbage salad, jello cake, and cherry delight. We used the kitchen of the single girls on the second floor of the apartment next to the church and served the meal in the large room below. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the natives asked for plates of the leftovers.

On Saturday Richard and Andrea took us to see a volcano in a national park. We could drive up to the top and look down into the crater. The size of that hole was unbelievable! It has not erupted for a long time but is considered active because it is still smoking. I don't know when it first erupted but the first drawing of it was made in 1529 so it has been active for at least 500 years and probably erupted the first time much earlier. It was impossible to get the whole crater on one picture. The hole where the smoke is coming from is about as deep as the one you see in this picture.

We had supper in a restaurant overlooking a lake. From that point we could see the entire lake, across a strip of land wide enough for a city (plus some) to Lake Nicaragua. At this higher elevation the landscape was greener and this was the most beautiful scenery we had seen. The whole land is lush and green during rainy season but this was dry season so the landscape was brown and very few flowers were blooming where we were staying.

L-R: Ed, Merle, Paul & Gloria, Leroy & Romaine

We went to church with our hosts on Sunday morning but I understood only a few words of the Spanish service. Nathan and Angie invited all of our group to their house for lunch and the afternoon. Around 4 p.m. they took us on a 20-minute drive to the Pacific Ocean to watch the sunset. To me, that was the highlight of the trip. The sand was black instead of white. The sky was not as colorful as sometimes but it was still beautiful. I took oodles of pictures as the sun went down but they do not capture the full beauty of the sunset. It was a lovely end to the week and more spiritual than church that morning.

The trip home on Feb. 28 was a long, drawn-out affair due to teriffic thunderstorms in Atlanta that closed the airport for 45 minutes. We were diverted to New Orleans and sat on the plane waiting for the weather to clear. What was supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour flight from Managua to Atlanta turned into seven hours on that plane. When we finally landed in Atlanta at nearly 10 p.m. we were unable to make our connecting flight to Baltimore. We got vouchers for a motel in Atlanta and fell into bed at 1 a.m. After only four hours of sleep we got up again to get to the airport. Our flight to Baltimore was on time and it was a smooth ride. We had about a three hour drive home from there and finally reached our house about 2:30 p.m. It was the best place I saw on the whole trip!

I'm glad we could go and the memories will last as long as I do. But I am more glad to be back home and ready to settle into my own familiar rut. I went to bed at 7 last night and was not disturbed at 4 by the crowing of roosters. (I would cheerfully have wrung a few necks down there if I could have reached the crazy critters.) It was 26 this morning and we did not need a fan last night. The highs will be in the 40s today instead of the 90s but the crocus are blooming and spring is on the way.

Adios

2011-02-20T16:53:00.003-05:00

We're packed and ready to begin an adventure in the sunny south at the stroke of midnight. Our Sunday school children have been collecting money for many months to build a house for a poor lady in Nicaragua. Now a work team of six adults (four men and two women) is going down to construct the house. I can't hammer a nail straight to save my life but I'm sure they will find something for us women to do. I know we will be doing some cooking but we'll find out what else they have for us to do after we're there.

We are meeting at 1 a.m. and will drive to Baltimore where our flight departs at 6:15. If everything is on schedule we will get to Managua, Nicaragua, at 1 p.m. Monday afternoon. Then we have a two hour drive to Leon where we will be staying.

We will only be there one week and return next Monday, 28th. The 90-ish days they have right now will be quite a switch from what we are used to around here. Gerald will be here to look after the place while we're gone. I don't expect to have internet access down there so there will probably not be any more posts until March.

Law and Grace

2011-02-17T11:01:00.003-05:00

I was reading this morning about Moses receiving the Law from God on Mt. Siani and had one of those sudden moments of insight on law and grace. Law is strong and grace is gentle. They are opposites and yet twin attributes of God's character.

When God gave the Law to Moses, the man went up into the mountain to meet God. Thunder rolled and and lightening flashed while God wrote the Law on hard tables of stone. Wham! There it is. Do what it says or else.

Centuries later God exhibited the opposite attribute of grace when His Son came down to meet multitudes of people on the mountain. There on the peaceful slope above the Sea of Galilee, Jesus quietly sat down among the people and gave them the principles for a life of peaceful co-existance. His own life was the model of grace written on the fleshly tables of the heart.

God does not excuse sin any more than He did when He gave the Law to Moses. But His grace has provided a way for us to meet the requirements and a pattern for us to follow. I'm glad I live in the day of grace!

House with Nobody in it

2011-02-15T20:22:00.014-05:00

Last fall we walked through an old house north of Bowmansville. A date stone written in German says it was built in 1813 by Christian and Judith (Weber) Musselman. The main section of the house contains a large fireplace with folding doors in the kitchen, much of the wainscoating, woodwork, other original things. (See post from October 11)

The place is for sale. The seller is looking for a buyer who will restore the house to make it a comfortable modern home without destroying its original charm. I thought of this house today when I read this poem.

The House with Nobody in it

by Joyce Kilmer

Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie track

I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.

I suppose I've passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute

And look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it.

***************

I never have seen a haunted house, but I hear there are such things;
That they hold the talk of spirits, their mirth and sorrowings.

I know this house isn't haunted, and I wish it were, I do;

For it wouldn't be so lonely if it had a ghost or two.

***************

This house on the road to Suffern needs a dozen panes of glass,

And somebody ought to weed the walk and take a scythe to the grass.

It needs new paint and shingles, and the vines should be trimmed and tied;

But what it needs the most of all is some people living inside.

***************

If I had a lot of money and all my debts were paid

I'd put a gang of men to work with brush and saw and spade.

I'd buy that place and fix it up the way it used to be

And I'd find some people who wanted a home and give it to them free.

**************

Now, a new house standing empty, with staring window and door,

Looks idle, perhaps, and foolish, like a hat on its block in the store.

But there's nothing mournful about it; it cannot be sad and lone

For the lack of something within it that it has never known. \

***************

But a house that has done what a house should do, a house that has sheltered life,

That has put its loving wooden arms around a man and his wife,

A house that has echoed a baby's laugh and held up his stumbling feet,

Is the saddest sight, when it's left alone, that ever your eyes could meet.

****************

So whenever I go to Suffern along the Erie track

I never go by the empty house without stopping and looking back,

Yet it hurts me to look at the crumbling roof and the shutters fallen apart,

For I can't help thinking the poor old house is a house with a broken heart.

Take Heart

2011-02-14T12:20:00.004-05:00

It's Valentine's Day and the temperature has sored into the 50s. That's all the encouragement this Snowdrop needed to bloom. The first little brave flower of the season! Spring will play hide-and-seek the next six weeks but here is the first evidence it's on the way.

Piecing and Collecting

2011-02-10T09:34:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I visited the Muddy Creek Farm Library at Ephrata to take some photographs I want to include in the article I'm writing on the Burkholders for the historical society. Bishop Christian Burkholder owned a copy of the Martyrs' Mirror, printed at the Ephrata Cloister in 1748. He also owned a Froschauer Bible published in Zurich in 1551. Both of these valuable books are preserved in the Muddy Creek Farm Library. (Objects in front of the books are the strap hinges which have fallen off.)

I also wanted to get a good photo of Christian Burkholder's gravestone in the cemetery at the Groffdale Mennonite Church. Since the cemetery is only a few miles south of the library and the sun obliged by shining brightly, I went there first. I have other pictures of Christian's stone but none of them is good enough for publication. This time the light was right and I got a lovely shot of the stone.While the light was right, I spent about 45 minutes walking through the oldest part of the cemetery and taking pictures of all the Burkholders I found. Then I went up to the library. Amos Hoover, whose collection is housed in the library, brought out more books with Burkholder signatures and I wound up being there over lunch time. Amos was ready to go home for lunch and insisted I go with him. Since his wife, Nora, is my first cousin, I agreed to go along and visit with her over lunch.

Nora showed me the quilt top she is currently piecing. I saw her sewing room with stacks of fabrics she uses to piece quilt after quilt. Then she showed me the pretty dishes she is collecting. She is a typical Mennonite lady, piecing quilts and collecting pretty dishes. I enjoyed looking at her things but have no interest in doing those things myself. I'd rather dig through courthouses, old newspapers and books, tax lists, etc. to find pieces I can use to put a family line together. The things I collect are photocopies of documents, books, and photos of gravestones. I guess I'm in a bit strange but that's the piecing and collecting I enjoy. I used to think when I get old I'll do a lot of sewing but I know now it isn't going to happen. I'll never be a typical Mennonite lady.

The World Keeps Going 'round

2011-02-04T13:55:00.006-05:00

Our church Sweetheart Supper is being held tonight. We were asked to tell about how things were in the "old days" when we were dating and married. Come on! 1965-67 wasn't THAT long ago!

The things that have changed the most since we were dating are the methods of travel and communication. Leroy was in service in New Jersey most of the time we were dating. Out-of-state phone calls were expensive and used only for emergencies. But I got a letter from him every Wednesday or Thursday. Why make an expensive phone call when four cents will mail a letter? I still have all those letters up in the attic. (Maybe I should look at them and see if I really want my children to read them someday.)

One winter night he got stuck in a snow drift on his way home after a date. He spent the night in his car until a farmer was able to help him in the morning. Before he could call his parents to tell them where he was, his mom called me and asked if he was still at our place. No, he had left at the usual time. Then we were both worried. He didn't have a cell phone in his pocket to let us know where he was.

Young people usually went to a youth meeting at a church somewhere on Saturday nights and then did something afterward. We often went to the Twin Kiss which sold mostly ice cream and root beer at that time. Fast food places were still in their infancy and not on every street corner like they are today. We didn't always get something to eat but hung out there mostly to see who else was there. There was a Twin Kiss at Ephrata and at Myerstown, about 15 miles apart. Sometimes, if we went to the one and "no one was there" we went to the other one. We couldn't call each other to find out where our friends were and get together on the run. We usually made our plans in advance for the next weekend and it didn't change after we were on the road.

We did not eat out as much as young people do today. If we went somewhere for a day we packed a picnic lunch. The times we went places where tickets were required for entrance were rare rather than regular events. We did not fly all over the world. Traveling to a neighboring state (by car) was about as far from home as we went.

Although the methods of travel and communication have changed the way young people get together and pair off, the object of the dating game is still "guy gets girl" just as it has always been. Guys chase girls who are often quite willing and eager to be caught. Girls pass messages to guys with their eyes and guys either take the bait or keep on fishing. Sometimes they do the catch-and-release thing but eventually most of them get hooked and their generation pairs off to produce another generation that will repeat the process. And so the world keeps going 'round!

All That Glitters

2011-02-02T09:33:00.005-05:00

All that glitters is not gold. Some of it is ice.

This is especially for all you deprived folks in the south who don't get to see the this kind of beauty in nature.

Fortunately, the power has not flickered once and it is now above freezing so we should be on the safe side. But it's still a good day to stay inside and work on scrapbooking 2010 memories.

Miller Organs

2011-01-27T15:00:00.003-05:00

One day last fall when I was at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, someone brought in an old pump organ that was being donated to the society. Things were moved to make a place for it in the library. I finally remembered to take my camera along this week and get some pictures of it.

The thing that caught my eye was the name just above the keyboard, "Miller Organ Company." I knew something about these organs.

Miller organs were manufactured in Lebanon, Pa. The company was born out of necessity. Adam Miller wanted an organ but he was a farmer and could not afford to buy one. He put his woodworking skills to use and made the cabinet but did not know how to make the inner works. When he heard Abraham Miller (unrelated) had an organ that needed repairs, he offered to do the job so he could learn how organs were assembled. Adam was a quick learner and he was soon being called on to repair and build organs. He built a shop on Eighth and Maple Streets in Lebanon in 1872. Soon afterward Abraham became a partner in his business and the company expanded rapidly. At the height of productivity in 1901 the company employed sixty people and produced 1600 organs per year.

The company began to decline after Adam's death in 1904 and the death of Abraham in 1911. The organ business could not compete with the Victrola and went out of business in 1923, a victim of the changing times.

Our daughter-in-law, Amy, is a descendant of this Miller family. Abraham Miller's brother, Henry, was her 3x-great-grandfather. They were descendants of Johannes Miller who bought a farm in 1783 near what is now Annville, Pa. He and his wife, Magdalena (Baum), are buried in the Miller family cemetery on the farm. Some of his descendants are also buried there and at the Gingrich Mennonite Church. The Miller line was firmly planted in Lebanon County until Amy's grandfather who lived across the line in western Berks County. Now you know why "Miller Organ Company" caught my eye.

Seasons

2011-01-26T07:02:00.002-05:00

After three full days of running to and fro on the face of the earth, I am happy to stay home today and move at a little slower pace. The fact that it is snowing adds to the urge to cocoon.

I've reached the age when snow has lost it's appeal but I'm still glad I live in a place where there are four distinct seasons. Each one has a beauty and flavor of its own. I love to get out there and dig in the dirt in the spring. Summer is full of outdoor activities and fall has a spicy aroma like no other season. But then life moves indoors for the winter and I have time to do things that I don't get done in the other seasons.

The winter is slippg by and I have been making good progress on the list of things I wanted to do this winter. The last big one on the list is scrapbooking my pictures from 2010. I'm going to tackle that one today and aim to finish before the calendar says it's spring. I don't know when I'd get some of these things done if I lived in a place without a winter season.

Testing His Wings

2011-01-20T15:57:00.003-05:00

The last fledgling is testing his wings. Nothing has left the house yet but Gerald has been moving his things from the garage to the house he bought on January 7. Last week he took his John Deere garden tractor (with blade) so he could clean the snow off the driveway. That was the first piece he moved. Yesterday his neighbor buddy helped him take his old truck and cycle to his house. The truck fills up the little shed in the back yard. He wants to do some work inside the house so he won't be moving out of here completely just yet. But he will probably soon stay there overnight sometimes and move in gradually as it is more practical. The wedding is still six months in the future so there is no hurry to move everything.

Times, They Are a'Changin'

2011-01-19T07:50:00.008-05:00

I grew up with a black rotary phone firmly attached to the wall. "Pay calls" were expensive and kept short. If possible, penny postcards were used instead of the phone to send messages. Out-of-state calls were made only for emergencies. We wrote letters to keep in touch with long-distance friends and family. The news was old (by today's standards) by the time it reached them.

Now that we have cell phones, email, blogs, tweet and twitter (which I haven't learned to use), Facebook, and Youtube, messages and pictures can be sent and received within seconds. Out-of-state phone calls are as cheap as a call to the next county. Conference calls allow people to chat and listen to conversations going on all across the country.

The downside of this great advantage is the loss of privacy. Over the weekend I discovered someone had told on a church-wide conference call that I am working on writing about the Burkholders. This is a conservative church that does not allow members to use Facebook but their conference calls are social networking nonetheless. Now people all across the country know what I'm writing, thanks to the tendrils of the Mennonite telephone grapevine.

I have no control over where my messages, posts, and pictures are forwarded after they leave my computer. People have gotten themselves in serious trouble by foolishly posting messages and pictures they never should have created.

This explosion of communication makes us vulnerable and allows the world to watch our stupid blunders. On Friday afternoon (Jan. 12) a girl was spotted falling into a fountain in a local mall. She appears to be engrossed in texting on a cell phone and not looking where she was going. She falls in, gets soaked, and climbs out again. The video was posted on Youtube and there have been 1.2 million hits on it in three days. At least the picture is not close enough to identify her, but she certainly knows who she is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWtDpGM36J8&feature=related

In the old days we probably would never even have heard about something like this. Now we can watch it happen. I hope no cameras are watching the next time I make a stupid mistake!

Winter Blast

2011-01-14T12:14:00.004-05:00

Except for one morning when I started working on getting ready to file taxes, I have been plugging away this week at the article I'm writing on the Burkholders for Pennyslvania Mennonite Heritage.

Before I started this project I questioned whether this is worthwhile since Bishop Christian Burkholder is so well known in Mennonite history. The longer I work on it the more I realize this writing is long overdue. While Christian's life and work is well known, no comprehensive work on his background and family has ever been written. I'm piecing it together from various sources, correcting errors, and filling in gaps. I was shocked to find there is no published genealogy of the Virginia descendants of Christian's brother Peter. Ditto for his brother Ulrich in Brecknock Township, where even some of the names of his six children are missing.

I love the challenge of research and am enjoying digging out the facts. I hope all the Burkholder descendants of the immigrant widow Barbara Burkholder and her six children will find this article beneficial. Meanwhile, it is keeping me pleasantly occupied during the cold winter months. I don't need to travel south to keep warm. I just go in my office, turn on the heat, and have a blast researching and writing.

More Pillow Tops

2011-01-08T10:47:00.003-05:00

Two years ago I made a dozen quilted pillow tops, using patches cut from my mother's dresses. Each of the Burkholder daughters and granddaughters got one. There was a pile of patches left so I promised to make one for each of the grandsons. That was one of the sewing projects on my list for this winter. I finished the second dozen yesterday and here they are.

After making two dozen pillow tops there is still a pile of patches left. I'm not sure what to do with them but they will wait for another year. I am glad to cross this job off my list so early in January. I am certainly not lacking for things to do the rest of the winter.

Burkholder Ancestors

2011-01-05T19:17:00.005-05:00

I took a little side trip to Switzerland this afternoon.---and was back in time for supper. We have been told that our Burkholder ancestors were from Ruderswil, Switzerland. The earliest one in the records is Joseph Burkhalter who married Elisabeth Widmer and had six children. Their youngest son, Benedict, was born December 1, 1661.

Benedict married Anna Kohler and had seven children. Their youngest child, Ulrich, was born February 11, 1699.

Ulrich moved to the Jura mountain area of Switzerland about 1728. He and his wife, Barbara, had six children. Their youngest child, Christian, was born June 1, 1746. He immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1754 with his widowed mother and five siblings.

I want to include images of the Burkholder birth records in the article I am writing on the Burkholders for the Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage magazine. I ordered the LDS microfilms of the Ruderswil church records and spent a couple hours this afternoon on a search and rescue mission.

This is the church record which says Benedict Burkholder was born December 1, 1661 to Joseph and Elisabeth (Widmer) Burkhalter.

This is the entry for the birth of Ulrich (Ully) Burkhalter, son of Benedict and Anna (Kohler) Burkhalter, on February 11, 1699. The last three names are the sponsors.

There you have it, right from the actual church books. I got copies of the pages recording the births all the children in both families but these are the most important ones because they confirm our Burkholder ancestors. What a lot of fun! And it sure was cheaper than going to Switzerland.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:18:00.005-05:00

I did the sensible thing last night and went to bed before midnight. Many years have come in without me standing guard at the door and I figured 2011 can do the same. But over the years I have somehow developed an internal clock that wakes me up at whatever time I think I want to get awake. Right on time, I woke up at 11:58 and managed to stay awake long enough to see the clock roll over to 12:00. I heard the neighbors shooting, knew the year had been properly ushered in, and went back to sleep.

I started the new year by giving the house a good cleaning and getting rid of all the dirt left from last year. It looks much better around here! And of course, we had the traditional PA German pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes for lunch. I rarely cook a meal like that on a Saturday but traditions are traditions and must be upheld.

As I was cleaning I was reflecting on the things that happened in our lives in 2010. Some of the highlights were watching Gerald graduate from Alvernia University with a BSN and begin his career as an RN, taking a two-week trip to Canada to visit my brother and his family, finishing the book I was writing and having it accepted for publication. I was blessed with all sorts of other joys and pleasures scattered through the days of the year. There were, of course, some unexpected turns such as the accidental death of a nephew and smaller calamities. But overall, it was a good year.

When standing on the threshold of a new year, one always wonders what the year will hold. Sometimes it doesn't take long to find out. I remember looking at the calendar on Jan. 1, 1994, and wondering aloud what the year would hold. The next day our lives were changed forever when Steve was in an accident and never came home again. I certainly don't want a repeat of that kind of experience. Some of the things I do anticipate this year are helping Gerald get his house ready to live in and watching him get married on July 30. The wedding is still seven months away but it will be here before we know it.

There are a few other things I hope will happen. The first two that come to mind are losing another five pounds and seeing my seventh book in print. Things on my job list are scrapbooking my 2010 pictures, some sewing, and writing. I'm sure things will come up that I have not thought of yet. New ideas of things I should do seem to pop up like dandelions, but that's what keeps life interesting.

I guess we'll just do like we've always done---live one day at a time and see what happens. One thing I know, be it good or bad I am not alone. God is my refuge and strength. He is where I can find comfort in trouble and strength to meet the challenges of each new day of 2011.

Good News

2010-12-30T07:56:00.002-05:00

The most FAQ I'm asked is , "Are you writing another book?" I try to avoid a direct answer until the book is near completion because people expect to see it long before it is on the market. Today, I am finally ready to admit I've been writing another book.

I started researching a story nearly two years ago. I wrote a couple chapters late in the spring of 2009 but paused for summer. I dug into writing in earnest in the fall of 2009, paused again for the summer of 2010 and finished it in October. I had three options for publishing and there were pros and cons with each one. It was not easy to make the decision. After praying and consulting several other people, I decided to submit it to Christian Light Publications which has published four of my previous books.

Yesterday I was notified that the manuscript has been approved for publication and I will be receiving a contract in the mail in about a week. Then the work begins to turn the manuscript into a book. Based on past experience, I am not expecting it to happen in six weeks but hoping it will be released sometime in 2011.

As soon as I admit I am writing a book the next two FAQ are, "What is it about?" and "What is the title?" This one is a true story about a Stauffer boy who ran away and joined the army during the Civil War. Unless we change it (which has happened before) the title is Aaron's Civil War.

Having a manuscript accepted for publication is a satisfying feeling but it is also sort of a let-down because the fun is over. By the time a new book is published it's history for me and I need another story for the next fix.

Ghost of Christmas

2010-12-27T09:06:00.007-05:00

Christmas is almost over. I still have to clean up the basement from Saturday. Once that is finished I will consider Christmas 2010 is history. We made a lot of good memories again this year. We do give gifts to each of our children and grandchildren but maintain the one-gift policy we have always had. I don't think they would be any happier with six or more gifts than they are with one.

I had a lot of fun buying and filling purses for the seven-year-old girls, Kayla and Lauren. There was no doubt Kayla appreciated her purse. She carried it around all day. Later in the afternoon I heard her tell someone, "There's only two things missing, a credit card and a cell phone."

It is a blessing to have a family that can get together, have a good time without any arguments taking place during the day (even if there are differences in opinion), and all go home happy. As we were eating dinner I looked at all the faces around the table and said to Leroy, "It is so good to have all of them under our roof at the same time, but I sure am glad I don't have to feed all of them every day!" To see all of your children have become responsible adults, able to take care of themselves and the next generation, is one of the best old age benefits. And now I shall go in the basement and savor the memories while I deal with the ghost of Christmas past.

Ancestor Tracking

2010-12-22T11:06:00.003-05:00

Hunters are sometimes in dangerous positions when they are tracking game. Tracking ancestors is a time-consuming sport but I never thought of it as anything dangerous. Until Sunday.

In the process of trying to track down some unrecorded deeds, we went to a farm at Bowmansville. I did not know who the current owner of the farm is but knew it is the place Ulrich Burkholder purchased from Hans Musselman in 1764. The previous owner had all the deeds descending from Ulrich. I hoped the current owner would be able to tell me what happened to those deeds when the previous owner died in 2002.

As I feared, the owner, Karl Martin, told me the old deeds were sold on public sale. What a shame! I was a couple years too late. Karl had a few deeds he purchased at the sale but the oldest ones were not among them. He graciously called several people he thought might have an idea who bought the oldest deeds. We were told that one one Karl's neighbors had bought them. Karl called him and then handed the phone to me to tell him what I'm trying to find.

Before I finished my story the neighbor said, "Oh yes. I have them here somewhere but I mislaid them."

I jokingly said, "Well, shall I come look for them?"

He said, "Sure. Come on up. I'll put my vicious dog away and meet you at the end of the lane."

As it was now dark, two of Karl's boys went with us to show us the way. We followed the man in his long dirt lane and into his house.

I explained again what I wanted and he repeated that he has them but doesn't know where they are at the moment. His wife took my name and phone number so she can let me know if and when they find the deeds. Our host launched into a long discourse about various subjects without connecting the dots. The longer he talked the less I believed anything he said. He seemed to have a distaste for Mennonites. I was getting nervous and wondering how we are going to get out of there graciously. All of a sudden he stuck out his hand, said good by, and dismissed us. I was ready to go!

We took the Martin boys home and went in the house to give Karl a report on the visit. THEN we learned this neighbor is an eccentric guy who lives almost like a hermit on that hill. He does not trust anyone. Going up there without an invitation is running the risk of being shot, especially at night.

Although I didn't bag any game on my tracking adventure, I did escape without being harmed. Given the attitude the man has toward Mennonites, I'm not expecting a call from him. I suspect he wanted to see who I was before he remembers where the deeds are and he won't be looking too hard just to satisfy the curiosity of a ancestor tracking Mennonite. I hope next time I think twice before I make jokes about search and rescue missions. But wow! What an adventure!

Christmas Card

2010-12-19T07:02:00.002-05:00

I sent out photo cards this year. For all my cyber friends who didn't get on by snail nail or email, here is yours.

Left side--Dale and Tawnya with their six children, Marcus (16) Austin (15) Dallas (13) Chenelle (12) Kayla (7) Justin (5)

Center left--Gene & Amy, Center back--Gerald Center front--Leroy & Romaine

Center right--Daryl & Velma, Right side--Richard & Cheryl Miller with their three children, Jeremy (17) Josh (15) Arianna (11)

The photo was taken at the springhouse on the Conrad Weiser Homestead about four miles from our house. If you don't know who Conrad Weiser was, click here and learn.
http://conradweiserhomestead.org/history.htm

Then click on the Virtual Tour link on the sidebar and take a tour of the buildings on the Homestead.

Roses in December

2010-12-15T06:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I finished my 63rd lap around the sun. No wonder I'm puffing to keep going! There have been some speed bumps along the way but in comparison to some people I've had a smooth ride. I have already lived longer than my father did and if I go beyond 66 I will outlive my mother too.

I spent the day in one of my favorite places---the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. It just happened to be my regular day to volunteer. I've never had a dull day there yet. One of the interesting events in the day was the donation of a Friendship quilt from the 1850s. It was all white with names and dates on the blocks. It was in very good condition and had been handed down through several generations of the family.

When Leroy came home he brought a dozen red roses. He forgot he gave me a dozen white roses for Valentine's day and said that will do for every event in the year. That's the advantage of having an older husband! I'll take another dozen. He can never go wrong with roses, especially roses in December!

Swiss Letter

2010-12-11T10:31:00.004-05:00

I touched a piece of Switzerland yesterday!

My Burkholder ancestors immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1754. They were with a group of other Mennonites immigrating from the Jura Mountain area of Switzerland. Some of the group did not have the funds to pay their passage so they were loaned the money from the Poor Fund of the church in Switzerland. The letter listed the names of those who received aid and the amount they were given. It stipulated that the money was to repaid to the Poor Fund so it could be used as intended to aid poor members in Switzerland. The letter was addressed to the church leaders in Pennsylvania. An identical copy was made and kept in Switzerland. The letter and funds were entrusted to Ulrich Engel, the leader of the group of immigrants.

The poor immigrants who had received aid settled in Brecknock and Cumru Townships, adjoining townships in Lancaster and Berks counties. (The county line runs through Brecknock Township.) They worshipped with three congregations known as the Muddy Creek district. None of them had a meetinghouse at that time so all worship services were held in homes or in Christian Good's mill. In time, all three congregations built meetinghouses known today as Bowmansville, Gehmans, and Allegheny.

The deacons of the Muddy Creek district administered their own Poor Fund and kept account books (beginning in 1744) of the benevolence funds. The records include repayment of passage loans and assistance to pay them as well as records of other needy people who received aid for various reasons. The records were written in homemade books made of sheets of paper stitched together with thread and folded to form a small book.

The 1754 letter from Switzerland and the deacons' Account Books were passed from deacon to deacon of the Bowmansville church for about 200 years until someone finally realized they should be preserved at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.

Yesterday I opened the box that contains these valuable pieces of history and saw the original letter and record books. I actually touched something that came across the ocean on the ship with my ancestors! To prove I kid you not, here is the first page of the letter, written in German in Switzerland in 1754.

Cracks

2010-12-08T13:10:00.009-05:00

I came across Leonard Cohn's Anthem this morning. I'm not very good at abstract thinking so I've have been mulling over the lines, trying to figure out exactly what he is saying. Here are some excerpts:

The birds they sang at the break of day

Start again

I heard them say

Don't dwell on what has passed away

or what is yet to be. . .

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

I think what he's saying is that we live in an imperfect world and cannot expect a perfect life. But the imperfections and flaws in life are beneficial. There are lessons to be learned from

*the sadness that comes from disappointment

*the agony of defeat

*the solitude of isolation and loneliness

*the grief of death

There is a perfect world but we have to leave this one before we can enter into it. Meanwhile, I hope the cracks in your world bring light into your life.

Cyber Monday

2010-12-02T08:22:00.003-05:00

Did you ever hear of Cyber Monday? I just learned about it this week.

I felt rather smug about my hassle-free online Black Friday purchase of a GPS. It was ordered on Friday and delivered on Monday. THEN I heard about Cyber Monday on the news. I did a little research and found out it is something that started about five years ago. Cyber Monday is for online shopping what Black Friday is for shopping in stores. Special deals are offered on Cyber Monday just like stores offer Black Friday deals.

Naturally, my next move was to go to the website where I had ordered the GPS and check if they were offering a Cyber Monday deal on the model of GPS I had just purchased. You guessed it! I could have gotten it for $7 less if I had waited until Monday to place the order. I paid seven bucks for a lesson in online shopping. In the future, if I want to make an online purchase for a Christmas gift I will wait until Cyber Monday.

My pain eased a bit last evening during a stop at a WalMart. Out of curiosity, we looked at their GPS prices. The model we bought online would have cost $70 more at WalMart. I guess I didn't lose too badly after all.

Go To The Dogs

2010-11-29T19:51:00.005-05:00

If a dog were your teacher you would earn stuff like . . .

*When a loved one comes home always run to greet them.
*Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
*Take naps and stretch before rising.
*Run, romp and play daily.
*Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
*Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
*On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
*On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
*When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
*No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.
*Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
*Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
*Be loyal.
*Never pretend to be something you are not.
*If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
*When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

Black Friday Shopping

2010-11-27T13:41:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving Day is over and the mad rush to Christmas has begun. The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is the traditional beginning of the Christmas shopping season. This year the Black Friday sales began before Thanksgiving but the biggest bargains were still reserved for THE day.

Those who enjoy being part of a crowd are welcome to indulge and savor the experience. According to the news reports, the crowds were lined up and snaked around some buildings for hours before the stores opened. I wouldn't go near a mall on Black Friday with a 20-ft. pole. I hate jostling crowds. Where the crowds are, I am not! I will do my Christmas shopping on a week day when the crowds are otherwise occupied.

We bought one Christmas gift though on Black Friday---by remote control. We had decided we will get a GPS which will do for a joint gift this year. We were watching the sales and saw a good one on Black Friday. But rather than battle the crowds we ordered it online, free shipping and no sales tax. That's my kind of Black Friday shopping!

Apple Butter

2010-11-20T16:18:00.005-05:00

I have made Apple Butter many times but always baked it in the oven for three hours rather than doing it the old fashioned way in a copper kettle over a wood fire. I've seen it being done that way but never helped. As of today, that is no longer true.

My sister has a copper kettle and today we gathered at her house to try our hands at an old fahioned apple butter boil. The huge kettle would hold about thirty gallons of apples but we only made a small batch. We dumped in six gallons of applesauce and added sugar and cider. It has to be stirred constantly to keep it from burning on the bottom of the kettle. We took turns and here is proof that I took my turn stirring the pot.

The apple butter was finished sooner than we expected. That was probably because it was such a small batch and the fact that we started with applesauce instead of raw apples. In less than three hours it was time to stir in the spices and dip out the finished product. The yield was about three gallons so we each wound up with about half of the amount of applesauce we contributed. This is my favorite picture of the day. My sister is filling jars with apple butter while one of her grandsons takes care of the important detail of taste testing. I always said making apple butter by the oven method produces the same results as making it in a copper kettle but I will have to adjust my tune a little. The apple butter we made today has a little different twang than the stuff made in the oven. It's probably the wood smoke that does it.