Sayin hi

[rlcphotos]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/thisnthatphotos/Yellow%20Creek%20State%20Park/IMG_8548.jpg

[ladyups]

Cute picture. I have lots of Amish on my route and keep thinking I'll capture some good shots some day but need to remember to carry my camera with me first...:confused:

[LensBaby]

When it gets closer to summer, we are going to make our trip to a place called Walnut Creek, and another one called Sugar Creek. I am going to take some Amish Photos there! The only thing about going there is the horse and buggies - they pull RIGHT out in front of you. I think my huge Land Rover would win, and I would hate for that to happen! It can be scary sometimes. You are always reading in the paper about a car/buggy fatality. Do they do that where you took these photos at?

[jerryph]

Is that boy waving to you? I think I'd find it unusual if the Amish felt comfortable getting their pics taken, but then again, I live far from them and know very little about them as a people.

[dkippen]

I was going through an Amish community in S. MN last fall and it was strictly forbidden to take any pictures of the people and didn't matter if it was adults or children. I could however take pictures of the buggies, horses, their crafts. There is something about their culture or belief about making sure their pictures aren't taken, I believe it had something to do with vanity.

[ladyups]

I was going through an Amish community in S. MN last fall and it was strictly forbidden to take any pictures of the people and didn't matter if it was adults or children. I could however take pictures of the buggies, horses, their crafts. There is something about their culture or belief about making sure their pictures aren't taken, I believe it had something to do with vanity.

Hi Deb..I believe it has to do with the type or sec of Amish. We have both Amish and Mennonites here and even they have different beliefs and ways of life. The families up near the Iowa line, are the old sec. They smoke and drink but will not ride in a motor vehicle. Those on the south end of my route don't smoke or drink but they will ride in cars to get to their jobs and such. They speak only German to their kids and the kids do not learn English until they go to school. The Amish around the Jamesport area are slowly converting over or upgrading as we call it...they have cars now and electricity but they didn't have a few years ago. Those from Jamesport are a much cleaner clan...those on my route are in dire need of some soap and water...:(

[dkippen]

These Amish are so confusing. I had always believed they lived a simple, straight and arrow life, until hubby and I went camping a few years ago. In Osakis, there is an Amish community that sells their wares at the local campgrounds on weekends. We were at one of these campgrounds one weekend and when I went into the store for ice, there were a couple of Amish men at the bar counter drinking a beer - kinda blew me away. I didn't think they did that. Found out, they were a more "liberal" order in that the men could drink, but that was about as liberal as they got.

[LensBaby]

OK this is one area where I know a lot, so if you have questions ask away! The old school Amish (in our area), believe that they should conserve water, and the way that they take a bath is to run the water and the oldest gets in first, and then they repeat this with the next oldest etc etc, until everybody has taken a bath. (might be related to what you said Mary) Also, have you guys ever heard of Rumspringa?(stand for jumping around) That is the period for Amish teens to be able to leave that way of life, and have as much fun as they want. They are allowed to drive, live in homes with electricity, and all of the other things that their beliefs are against. When the decide they are ready to commit their lives to the Amish way of living they go back. Some never do, and then they are shunned from the community. OK now for the photograph part...Most Amish consider posing for photographs to be an unacceptable act of their religion and do not allow pictures of themselves. They also will not allow their children to have dolls with faces painted on them! They believe that it is "bad luck". That is why you see the dolls with NO FACE.They believe that God is the only being that can create people.

[dkippen]

Sue -

Thank you for the wonderful explanation. I believe a news show (like 20/20 or 48 HRS) did a show on the Rumspringa quite a few years ago - very interesting. I knew the part about the dolls not having faces, but wasn't very clear about the picture part other than I knew they didn't allow photographs.

[jerryph]

I suppose because I live the kind of life that I do, that I find the Amish way of living quite restrictive. It is no wonder that many do not come back after living in the 20th century for a while.

[ladyups]

Not all the Amish do this....let their young go out into the world..I never realized there were so many different beliefs among the Amish until I started delivering to them and got well acquainted with them. Those that drink and smoke are one of the oldest sects. They say that the ones that don't drink and smoke have 'advanced' with the modern age. Funny, right? What I find odd is that they know that there are conveniences out there and don't use them...like air conditioning when its hotter than blue blazes. I think this is a man thing in another sense of the word like the place in Texas that the government just raided. The Amish men can wear their shirts with the sleeves rolled way up or I've even seen some take their shirt and hats off but the women can't show more than their feet and it doesn't matter how hot. I think the men just use their women to make babies and do all the cooking and cleaning. I've never been to an Amish home where the woman wasn't doing something but the men might be sitting out under the shade tree. I feel sorry for the women. If they go to town to shop, the woman have to wear their black wool coats and black hats. Unbelievable...I don't know what keeps them from dying of heat stroke!

[LensBaby]

Yeah, there are several different groups of Amish, and some of them actually broke off of the first group of Amish. Beachy Amish and New Order Amish groups have fewer limitations; some permit cars and electricity. I have seem some Amish women go into a grocery store by use and buy cases of cake frosting and cake mixes! How funny is that! I was really confused about the different groups of Amish, until my husband met an amish family at a construction site, and he actually became one of his really good friends. Yes, they smoke marijuana and were BIG drinkers. He also told us that they only want Amish people to be with Amish and they will even move around from state to state to find Amish mates, but eventually they become in the same blood line somewhere. There are many different Amish groups now, and each has different beliefs. We have Amish everywhere you look in Ohio (I don't know about by bigger cities such as Cleveland or Cincinnati, but around us they are everywhere. I found this online:
The largest group is not the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, settlement as is commonly supposed. The greatest concentration is in Holmes and adjoining counties in northeastern Ohio.

[jeff-in]

There is an amish community in the county north of us. The one family has around 4 modular homes on their property and they sell baked goods, cheese, crafts, and other stuff. I used to work at walmart in the electronics department and I had an amish guy come in one day asking if cordless telephones would work using a battery pack and didnt want to accept no for an answer.

We have had several buggy/car incidents around here also including a few fatalities the last years because the buggies are just driving down the road and dont even get over when cars are coming. The last fatal one I remember killed 2 people from Ohio who was here visiting family and that buggy got hit by a semi.

[LensBaby]

I live in Ohio and we are AMISH country all the way. I have sooo many amish around. We have fatalities here all of the time, and it is a sad situation.