You have half a mind to give me a piece
of your mind, but you’d better beware—
what you’re giving away freely to others
is something you really can’t spare.

You’ve given your all, put your back into it;
you’ve given it the old college try.
I’d love to help you brainstorm,
but I’ve other fish to fry.

So just hold your horses, get off your high horse,
Then get on the horse once more.
Tired of horses yet? No? Well okay,
I can still think of three or four.

I eat like a horse, and with little remorse,
I beat them when they’re dead.
I have to pee like a Russian racehorse
(but that’s prob’ly better left unsaid).

I’ll hitch to the one that is winning,
and look in its mouth of course.
You’ll be glad to know, it’s the end of the flow;
I need to see a man about a horse.

You all know how I love a good cliché – especially for a post title. I don’t much care that it’s considered bad form to use clichés in writing… it’s my blog and I’ll write how I want. Now that I’ve explained all that, you should know this title, like most others, has only a little to do with the content…

I’ve been freezing my rear end off in Oklahoma. First it was the panhandle, then it was the southern end. In my effort to get away from the bad weather, it instead seems to follow me. And before someone else says “Come to Texas..” again, Dallas had 10 inches of rain in a day – an all time record. I’m leaning toward heading east, and possible north. (I do need to go where there is work.)

Why east and north? I recently went to Pennsylvania Amish Country – and I loved it! It was beautiful, the people were friendly, and the towns clean. When I told my father how beautiful it was, he agreed and said it was the prettiest of all the states he’s been to (and he’s been to most all of them). I hear the weather sucks in the winter, but so far it’s still warmer and drier than Texas and Oklahoma. Yes, as I write this, it is warmer and drier in the northeast and has been for the last several weeks.

Amish farmhouse with clothes on the wash line.

The photos don’t do it justice; the countryside is stunning. It’s no wonder they use it for all those landscape puzzle pictures. (Yes, I’m a puzzle-loving geek.)

It looks like this for miles… open countryside, gently rolling hills, dotted with farmhouses and silos.

Notice there are no electric lines? That’s how you tell it’s an Amish farm… they do not use electricity. They do have gas lights and appliances, though.

I don’t see electric lines so this may be an Amish church and cemetery, but that’s just a guess.

I did take a blurry photo of an Amish guy driving  – and then I was told they consider photos a graven image. Ooops. Sorry, Amish Guy.

This is a typical scene in Lancaster County, PA: Driving behind a horse and buggy. It’s like driving behind a cow or chicken trailer in Texas – but without the smell.

While I was there for only a few days, I saw a lot: Giant Amish statues with bare feet; tour of Amish Village; Hershey, PA, where they make the chocolate; Valley Forge; the “horny towns” (Intercourse, Blue Ball, etc); and a couple stops around Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay! Stay tuned – posts for each are coming after this one.