Frost on the Pumpkin

We had our first frost on Monday morning, which was nearly three weeks later than the average date of October 10. It was not a hard freeze, but there definitely was frost on the pumpkins. A few of them are too green, but I brought in three that are far enough along to believe they will finish ripening on the patio.
That pumpkin vine was a volunteer that came up from a seed I had thrown out with last year's garbage. It grew like crazy, took over about a third of the garden, and blessed us with 20 big neck pumpkins. The vine is black and dead now, so if I can find homes for the last five pumpkins we will be out of business. Meanwhile, we are eating lots of things made with pumpkin. We've had pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bars. Tonight's dessert is Pumpkin Parfait--a concoction made of a cooked and cooled pumpkin mixture with meringue and cool whip folded in to make it fluffy.
Seeing frost on the pumpkins reminded me of the way one of our little boys recited that familiar line from James Whitcomb Riley's poem--"the frost is on the pumpkin and fadder's in the shop." The frost never ceases to come no matter how many years go by, but fodder and shocks are terms which no longer have meaning to most children.

25th Anniversary

Yesterday we helped Leroy's youngest sister and her husband celebrate their 25th anniversary. Paul and Gloria have a fine family of four children, the oldest of whom was married in September. I have made a counted cross stitch piece for each of our brothers and sisters when they reached this anniversary. This picture shows Paul and Gloria with the one I made for them.

Having the last of the Stauffer family come to this milestone in life naturally led to some reflection on the swift passage of time. Gloria was too young to remember when her parents had their 25th anniversary, but she remembered that they had been married 40 years the year she and Paul were married. And now her oldest brother (and I) reached that mark this year.

I thought our parents were old when they reached their 25th anniversary, but now that we have gone so far beyond that ourselves, people celebrating their 25th seem rather young. It's curious how different the same thing looks depending on your vantage point.

Happy Anniversary, Paul and Gloria. May you have at least 25 more!

Cabbage Seeds

Last night we went to a benefit dinner for Gospel to Haiti mission. Their work is in the Les Palmes area of the Petit Goave district, located in the south western peninsula of Haiti. It is a very rugged part of the country fourteen miles from the main road, which takes two hours to travel by 4-wheel drive vehicle and mule.
After a delicious PA Dutch supper, which also included Haitian rice and beans, we saw a power point presentation of the country and work of the mission. They operate a church, school, and medical clinic, using as many native workers as possible. The doctors and nurses are natives.
The moderator of last night's meeting told us they had brought a Haitian man to the States for surgery. He lived in their home about a month while he recuperated. Before he went home they asked him if there is anything they can do for him. He said, "Yes. If it could be arranged, I would like a pack of cabbage seeds to take home with me."
That story really challenged me. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. I've been there and seen the poverty. I am wealthy in comparison to that Haitian man, but am I as contented? Suppose I had been in his shoes. After a month of living in comparative luxury, what would I have asked for? I'm afraid it would have been for something more expensive than a pack of cabbage seeds! What do you think you would ask for?

Eternal Security

We spent the weekend with our daughter in Ohio. At their church, the adults currently are having a joint class taught by one of the ministry to study their Statement of Faith during the Sunday School hour. The topic this Sunday was Salvation. The teacher did a fine job of addressing the issue of the assurance and security of our salvation.
He made it clear that he does not believe in unconditional eternal security. I agree. The idea that a person cannot lose their salvation for any reason is not supported by the Scriptures. Salvation is based on faith. You can't kick God in the closet with the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny and still expect Him to take you to heaven. God only saves those who believe in Him and His Son. The Bible says, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is . . ." and "Without faith it is impossible to please Him."
Although it is possible to lose our salvation (if we drop our faith) we are eternally secure in Christ as long as our primary goal is to please God. If we are trusting our own intellect or works, our primary goal is not God but self. The grace of God continually cleanses those whose primary goal is to please Him so that our salvation is intact in spite of imperfections.
I think our Mennonite churches need more of this teaching on the grace of God. We are strong on teaching obedience (which is the response of faith) but weak on teaching grace. Grace does not give us license to sin but it does free us from fear. I am eternally secure in Christ so long as my faith in Him endures. That's like a big fat feather pillow under me.

Black Light Song

Here's something that is really cool. It is done with a black light and white gloves.
Click on the link and enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7x3VnrqbA

False Alarm

I get so tired of being asked, "What are you writing now?" I usually try to side-step the question because it takes me so long to produce something and if people know what I am working on they expect to see it on the market long before it arrives.
Since my last book was published, I have had at least 16 suggestions and/or requests to write stories for people. I cannot do all of them and turn most of them down. A couple weeks ago one of the editors from CLP called and asked if I would rewrite a story that had been submitted to them for a children's book. This one interested me and I agreed to do it. After spending all day yesterday on it, this morning the original writer of the story called and withdrew the request. Now isn't that ironic? Out of all the requests I received, the one I agreed to do flopped in the dust. I have plenty of other ideas floating around in my head and a few in various stages of beginning, but the one I had decided to make the first priority dissolved after one day's work.
Truth to be told, I feel sort of lost if I don't have some kind of writing project to work on--at least in my head. I always take a break over the summer canning season. With that behind me for another year, this week I was ready to start again and had a false alarm. Maybe next week I'll pick up another idea and try again.

Vacation Report

My "vacation" is over (boo-hoo). It is going to take me the rest of this week to get my act together and then next week I will try to go on. I looked forward to the visit of the Good cousins for months and the days flew by so fast. But the memories will last longer than the months of anticipation, so I can savor them whenever I like.
Trying to give a complete report of the past 12 days would result in a very lengthy post, so I will try to recap and touch on the highlights.
Don Good, from Texas, was the first to arrive. He flew into Harrisburg and showed up on our doorstep around 10:45p.m. on September 15. The next day was Sunday, so we went to church in the morning and after lunch drove down to spend the rest of the day in the Bowmansville area. One of the stops was at the Good Homestead on Good Road, which is now owned by Luke Burkholder. We walked around the grounds and talked to Luke outside. One of the big questions was where Jacob Good built his first (probably log) house. Luke told us he dug up some big foundation stones when he was burying a fuel tank next to the house. That was pretty clear evidence to us that the first house stood very nearly on the same spot as the current stone house, which was built in 1852.
Another big question was, "Where are the original deeds to the property?" Don asked Luke if he has any old deeds. He said he has one and took us out to the office of his shop where he opened the safe and pulled out a sheepskin deed from 1769 transferring the property from Jacob I to Jacob II. What a treasure! We could not believe we had found something so rare and valuable on the very first day.
Monday (17th) was a day to tour the local area here and tell Don what I had found about his Lauck ancestors. The Host church, which stands about a quarter mile from our house has record of some of his Laucks being married and baptized there.
Tuesday (18th) we spent the day at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. We found a few things and talked to Carolyn Wenger who is the Archivist. Don told her how excited we were to find the deed on Sunday. He went on to say it is the first deed transferring the land from father to son but not the Patent Jacob I got from the Penns. Carolyn calmly said, "I think I have that one." Don and I looked at each other in disbelief. But a few minutes later, Carolyn came back with the Patent in her hand.

A sheepskin deed and Patent in the first three days!! I had very little hope of finding these old documents and to find two of them in three days time was far more than we could have dreamed. Don's ancestor, Jacob II, moved on to Virginia and died there. His son, Abraham, stayed in PA and got the farm. So the two documents we found are the very two which contain the signatures of Don's two Good ancestors.
Wednesday (19th) we went back to Lancaster to visit the courthouse and Lancaster County Historical Society. We got copies of a few wills, deeds, and other tidbits but nothing as big as a sheepskin deed. He went to the airport at Harrisburg to pick up his two cousins, Ginny Traycik and Meredith Mauck, who arrived (from Florida and Kansas) in the late afternoon. Another cousin, Millie and her husband Wayne Croy (from Missouri), also arrived on Wednesday afternoon but went straight to their motel at Reading.
Thursday (20th) was the group's "tourist day." We were at the Leola Produce Auction at 9 a.m. I had called Noah Oberholtzer (who works there) to make arrangements to visit with them on Sunday so he knew who I was bringing. When I introduced him to Don, Noah said, "I saw there were strangers here, but you don't look like a foreigner. If you told me you were from Brownstown I would believe it." That "foreigner" comment was repeated for the duration of the trip! We did other touristy things like Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Ephrata Cloister, and wound up at Jonathan and Ada Martin where Don and Jonathan had a good genealogical conversation while the ladies looked at quilts.
Friday (21st) found the group back in Bowmansville where we met Henry Horning and his wife. Henry lives in the area and knows the people and places better than I do. He was our tour leader there, beginning with the grave site of Jacob Good I at Pine Grove Mennonite Church.

Left to right--Ginny, Meredith, Don, Millie & Wayne

The whole group toured the Good Homestead. Don had called Luke and asked him to get the deed out of the safe again so he could photograph it. While the group toured the house, I sat down and transcribed the entire deed directly from the sheepskin. It was easier to do that way than to try do it from photographs. The thing was about 20 inches long and full of writing. It took me a lot longer than I expected, but I got every word. Our next appointment was with Ron Funk who had agreed to show us through the Bowmansville Roller Mill which he owns and is preserving. He gave us a thorough 2 hour tour which was very interesting. In the evening Ron and his wife went with us to Shady Maple Smorgasbord for supper. The Good cousins all declared they had never seen such a large restaurant or choice of foods. Saturday (22nd) the Good cousins went on a tour of Philadelphia sponsored by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. While they were gone, we had our day crammed with other activities which included a sale, wedding, and school reunion.
Sunday (23rd) the whole group went to church with us and came to our house for dinner. After dinner Millie and Wayne left for home. The rest of us piled in their rented van and drove to Noah Oberholtzer's place at Leola by way of Ephrata and Fairmount hill. Noah and his wife went with us to see the spring at Groffdale which attracted Hans Graeff to settle there. Peter Gut (Good), the father of Jacob I, owned 100 acres of land across the road from Hans Graeff. After seeing the spring and Peter's land, we went back to Noah's place. He gave the "foreigners" a buggy ride.

Monday (24th) Don, Ginny, Meredith, and I headed for Virginia to see the place Jacob Good II lived from about 1800 until his death in 1803. The first day was largely spent touring the Gettysburg Battlefield. We hired a guide to ride with us and tell us what we were seeing. It was well worth the $45 cost. We got to Harrisonburg, VA by supper time and checked into our separate Comfort Inn rooms. David Steinberg had agreed to be our VA guide. He came to meet us at the motel and make plans for the next day.
Tuesday (25th) David Steinberg met us at 8:30 a.m. and was our navigator. Our first stop was the EMU library where we found some things and made a stack of copies. Then we visited a few cemeteries, including Singers Glen where Frances Good, the wife of Jacob II was buried in 1826. She was the first person buried in this cemetery, followed by her son Daniel and his wife who were the second and third burials on this steep hill cemetery.

Our next stop was the courthouse in Harrisonburg which yielded a few results but not everything we had hoped to find. We also visited the Early Cemetery where some surmise Jacob II is buried (on the other side of town from the cemetery where his wife is buried). If he was buried there, his stone has not survived. As usual for this group, it was dark by the time we had supper and called it a day.

Wednesday (26th) we swung by Trissels Mennonite Church to stomp through another cemetery on our way north. Then we hit the Interstate and made it to Harrisburg in time for Ginny to catch her flight home. Don, Meredith, and I went from there to Lancaster for another raid of the courthouse there and then swung by Bowmansville again to catch a few forgotten items. We got home a little after 5:30 p.m. I had a "quickie" meal in the back of my head for just such an occasion and it came in handy. Leroy grilled some sausages while Meredith stirred together a salad and in less than a half hour we had supper on the table. Meredith preferred to spend the night at Lantern Lodge, so she headed there after supper.

Thursday (27th) Meredith had said she would be back to pick up Don at 9 a.m. but made a wrong turn on the way and didn't get here until 10. Her flight out of Harrisburg was leaving at 11:50 so there was still enough time to make it. Don's flight was scheduled to leave at 2:30 p.m. We had a wonderful time together and I enjoyed every minute of my local vacation. We found the answers to some questions and made some amazing finds, but other questions remain unanswered. Just before they left Don said something about this being their "first trip." He can see it will take another trip to get more answers to the unsolved riddles that remain. I have a feeling they will be back someday. And they are more than welcome.

I could make a career of digging for documents and stomping in cemeteries! But there are other things on my "to-do" list and I guess I will have to go back to the daily grind. Vacations are meant to be enjoyed and then savored in memory.