Cheese!
My Brother-in-Law's Family Farm
My brother-in-law was raised in an Amish home in Holmes County, Ohio. He and my sister-in-law spent most of their adult married lives in Florida, but a few years ago they moved back to that area. What a treat to visit them! When I was working on The Heart’s Frontier, I was able to spend some time in the area, driving over those beautifully green rolling hills, visiting the sites of Aden’s childhood, hearing him talk about his upbringing on the farm. Though his parents have passed away, one of his brothers still lives on the family property, in the dawdi haus, while the younger generation has moved into the main house and runs the farm.
One thing I love about Holmes County is all the cheese! There is a very strong Swiss heritage in Holmes County, and they have preserved the traditions of cheese making. Every time we visit we take at least one day to visit all the local cheese factories. My in-laws drive us around from one to the other, and Aden points out the places where he used to deliver the milk from their cows. The cheese makers still use locally produced milk to make their cheese.
Most of the shops have tasting rooms. In the Guggisberg Cheese factory you can watch the cheese making process, and sample dozens – and I mean many dozens – of different cheeses. I never leave there without stocking up on incredibly tasty Swiss cheese and smoked cheese and spicy pepper cheese and… oh, there’s something different to try with every visit. I also love Heini’s, and Troyer’s, and Walnut Creek, and… oh, there’s too many to name. I love them all.
Someday I’m going to write a book about Amish cheese making. Then I’ll have an excuse to eat as much cheese as I want.
History versus Contemporary
It was an interesting project to tackle: how to por
tray Amish people in the late 1800’s. I mean, at that time nobody had cars or telephones or any of today’s technology that sets today’s Amish believers apart from the rest of society. Everybody rode in wagons and buggies. Everyone dressed in floor-length dresses. So how were the Amish different from everyone else in that time period? It really was a challenge, and especially for a writer who had never explored the time period of the late 1800’s before.
In the end, Lori Copeland and I decided to approach the story of The Heart’s Frontier as we would any other story – from the perspective of the viewpoint characters.
I admit it took quite a bit of research to discover how Emma Switzer, Amish woman in 1881, would view her contemporary world and how it differed from her non-Amish contemporaries. It’s so different from anything we encounter today! But in the end, Emma and her family were such intriguing characters, and their beliefs were so strong, that the story of The Heart’s Frontier pretty much unfolded naturally. The Amish lifestyle hasn’t changed much since the late 1800’s, but the English lifestyle had undergone several dramatic changes. Today the difference are extremely noticeable. Back then…well, not so much. But there were some very important differences, and I hope we’ve captured the essence of those differences in The Heart’s Frontier.
Proverbs – Lead Me Not Into Temptation
Continuing my discussion of the proverbs and sayings Amish parents use to raise their children, I’d like to share one I ran across during my research for The Heart’s Frontier (Co-authored with Lori Copeland, and available NOW!) In the course of the story the main Amish character, Emma Switzer, comes upon a very tempting sight – cowboy hunk Luke Carson stripped to the waist in a stream attempting to save some waterlogged cattle. Guilt smites Emma as she looks on the sight of Luke’s bare chest, and …
Maummi’s saying repeated in her mind like a mantra. Keep your eyes cast down until the Lord raises them. She knew for a fact that the Lord would not approve of her staring at Luke’s half-clad body, so she kept her back turned, standing in front of Maummi. Lord, lead me not into temptation.
I got a huge kick out of that scene. The picture of Emma standing on the shore of a wide river, trying hard to keep her back turned to the sight of Luke waist-deep in the water. Oh, how hard it is at times to keep yourself from temptation. Emma’s grandmother would be proud, though. Her proverb gave Emma strength!
All humor aside, I do think that proverbs, scriptures and often-repeated prayers come to our aid at appropriate times. That’s one reason it’s important to memorize scripture. I can sometimes hear my grandmother’s voice reciting a well-known Bible verse, just as Emma hears her Maummi’s voice. I hope I can pass on a legacy like that to my grandchildren.
Do you have proverbs or verses that come to mind at just the right time? I’d love to hear about them!
