Hello from Geauga Amish Country
It felt like a spring evening on March 28 after a beautiful day.
It felt like a spring evening on March 28 after a beautiful day. The crocuses are blooming and the daffodils are peeking through, which is a sure sign of spring.
Quite a bit of maple syrup has been made. Daughter Sylvia and granddaughter Rosanna and children walked down to watch them making syrup at John and Ida Mae Hershberger’s the afternoon of March 25. It brought back memories of when we were first married and lived on the Beales farm and we also made syrup. The syrup has a very good flavor this year.
Spending 10 days in Florida from March 11 to March 23 were son Ray, Judy and daughter Maria and I. That included three days of traveling. We went down by train and came back with the bus. I got to stay in the house my aunt Fannie Byler used to own in Sarasota, Fla. After she died, it was passed down to her children and grandchildren. It has now been sold to a couple from Pennsylvania.
Sarasota Amish communities first began in the celery fields in 1928, where they settled in the present day community of Pinecraft in 1930. Presently, Sarasota is home to over 3,000 Amish and Mennonites; the numbers double in season. Pinecraft is still the heart of our small local Amish community with Yoder’s Restaurant and Produce located right in the middle of town. The produce market opened in 2009 and the restaurant celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015. We ate lots of delicious strawberries and the oranges were sold out. It is the end of the season.
The weather was beautiful except for a few days where there was some rain and it was a bit cooler. Sunsets on the beach are awesome. We got to see some dolphins, but I did not see any alligators.
Wedding invitations are being sent out. We have one here for granddaughter Lori, daughter of Richard and Sue Miller, and Adam, son of Adam and Marie Miller. Soon, the wedding season will begin.
It was raining the morning of March 29, which should help the grass green up. Farmers are starting to plow, getting ready to plant crops. Greenhouses are being planted and so, another season has begun.
On March 28, sisters Fannie Yoder and Edna Byler, nieces Ellen H. and Barbara Yutzy, cousin Gert Byler and I took lunch, cake and ice cream to sister Elmina for her birthday. She is 83 years old. She has not been feeling well the last while.
Neighbor Joe Bricker spent the day and night in Cleveland Hospital after a fall at work, which resulted in a concussion and blood on the brain. He has to be careful for two weeks before he may go back to work.
Danny Ray and Betty Miller returned home on March 28 after working in Florida for over a month. Brothers Paul and Andrew were taking care of their place while they were gone.
Chuckles
The night before final exams everyone was cramming in preparation. One fellow was almost a nervous wreck pacing the floor, snapping his fingers and calling out, “Balk, balk.”
A fellow student interrupted him, “What does ‘balk’ mean?”
“It means I’m konfused,” replied the boy.
“But, confused should be spelled with a ‘c,’ not a ‘k,’” suggested the friend.
The distraught student snapped his fingers again, saying, “Boy, I’m more confused than I thought I was.”
Happy Easter!
