An Amish Adventure

Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to. - The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

Dear Readers,

I’m sitting at my desk listening to the rainfall outside, relishing the cooler air and a brief respite from what has already been a dry, hot spring (after a very dry, warm winter). Having just spent the last two weekends either in the country or driving through it, I can attest that the entire region is incredibly parched for this time of year. I feel especially for the cotton farmers – the weather has not cooperated with them in the last few years. Hopefully this is the beginning of some relief for all of us. It is a nice mellow conclusion to a full day.

I have always been annoyed when people complain that there is nothing to do in or around Corpus Christi. In my opinion, people who say that are either lazy and unimaginative, or simply have a very narrow perspective of “things to do”. While I love traveling to new places for different experiences, I have yet to ever be bored in my own hometown and its surrounding areas (ok, I will admit a there is a dearth of things to do late at night but I’m speaking in generalities here).

Today I had a plan for an interesting and mildly adventurous morning. I was thrown off my schedule a tad by events last night that kept me up late (short version: a belligerent high-speed baseball attacked my mother which sent the whole family into the ER - but she’s ok), but I was still able to carry out my plan.

I had just recently learned about a small Amish community that lived about 40 minutes from C.C. I had no idea there were Amish nearby! Like many people, I find their way of life fascinating. However, I had to do my homework. For obvious reasons, they are not online; so I could only find vague references to their location. The non-Amish community that surrounds them is very protective of “their Amish” and I knew it would do no good to ask around town. However, with some persistent sleuthing I thought I had fairly good idea of where they were located. For the record, my motivation was not just idle curiosity; I had discovered their existence while seeking local sources of fresh farm produce and eggs, which the Amish do sell in their own little shop.

I woke up later than I intended and drove first to the local farmer’s market. It isn’t a great market, but I admit to becoming spoiled over the years by the amazing markets and local farmstands in the Austin area. However, the locals are more organized than they used to be and have been slowly growing. It was worth the quick trip. I left the market with fresh homegrown red potatoes, a pint of very juicy strawberries, and some delicious peaches. On any other Saturday I would have been strongly inclined to drive on to Le Success, our local (and legitimate!) French bakery and patisserie, for an sweet breakfast and coffee, but I decided it was a bit late for that and had a strong desire to start the real adventure of the day!

It was a nice morning for a drive. The sky was overcast and hints of rain surrounded me although I never ran into any storms. But I could see stormheads all around me and hear soft rolls of thunder. Once I got on the quiet country roads I was in heaven. I adore being in the country and everything was still and quiet, the quiet before the storm. The windows were down and I felt the allure of the open road! As I drove I thought about the Amish, at least what little I knew about them. Their history dates back to the Reformation and the Anabaptist traditions. While they are true Christians, with belief in salvation through the grace of God and Christ’s sacrifice, they also have incredibly strong legalistic tendencies, which is sometimes in conflict with the message of grace. The pressure to measure up to the standards of their church sect is very difficult, and puts an enormous amount of pressure on the individual (I have read that suicide is sadly not an uncommon thing among them). I have had a previous encounter with Amish, in Lancaster County, PA. Large groups of Amish and Mennonites reside in that part of the country, with lush farms and adorable children. Amish children have the most innocent, pure eyes you would ever see in a child today. Today I also wondered if their way of life made it easier to ride out hard economic times. It would affect them to some degree, but their entire lives are built on being completely independent of outsiders and modern conveniences, so they would surely be less affected.

At one point I went through the booming metropolis that is Tynan, TX. I love small Texas towns!!!

Yup. That is really their local Post Office!

I started becoming excited when I turned off the road where I hoped to find them. Sure enough, I saw something that I learned before was a sure sign of nearby Amish, horse poop in the road.


Now some of you may say, isn’t this Texas? Yes, and to be honest, cow poop wouldn’t be too unusual, but horse? Surprisingly, this is very rare. Given my search, I took it as a good sign. Sure enough, over the next small hill a farm wagon pulled by a single horse trotted towards me! It was a surreal moment, seeing the young Amish man in the wagon, chirping his mare along. I was trying very hard to observe without staring, and did the casual “car wave” my dad taught me to do on Texas roads. The gentleman gave a huge grin back and an enthusiastic wave. This was a pleasant reversal of my previous experience with the Amish who, while never unfriendly, certainly were reserved and unenthusiastic about greeting strangers. I drove on, spying a cluster of farms on one side and small horse-plowed fields to the other.


It’s a hard life. There are few Amish this far south due to the heat (not just for them, but working horses in this heat is very hard on the animals). These farms were a far cry from the Technicolor green fields I had seen in Pennsylvania; I could see these folks had a hardscrabble existence.

I saw in the distance some women working in the garden, but I made no effort at this time to photograph the people. Many of the Old Order Amish consider photos to be in violation of God’s edict against “graven images” so I wanted to respect that. I drove down the entire length of road on which the community lives and pulled over for a moment. I took a few moments to enjoy the luxury of a freshly picked peach sitting on the hood of my car, soaking in the quiet countryside.

Afterwards I retraced my journey down the road, looking for the Amish “shop” I had read about. This shop is a combination of harness repair, animal feed, produce from their gardens, eggs, homemade candles, etc. Maybe I’ll take pictures inside someday if I feel it won’t offend.

Frankly I was a little intimidated going in to the store – I had never dealt directly with a member of Old Order Amish. But I was encouraged by the friendliness of Wagon Man so I cautiously went into the place. A local rancher was already there, picking through the tomatoes and summer squash. I was delighted to see they made their own honey and snatched up a small bottle of it. Then I spied a cooler that read, “Homemade cottage cheese… Butter…. Eat at your own risk.” (!!!) Now for those of you who don’t know me, a sign like that is only an open invitation for me to try something, so I was very disappointed to see the cooler was already empty (it was probably about noon at this point). I got a small thrill when I heard the noise of boots and there walking towards me was an Amish man, probably in his late 30’s or early 40’s. He was tall and thin, and dressed exactly like what you would expect an Amish man to dress, down to the straw summer hat. Full beard so I knew he was married (they don’t wear wedding rings and men don’t grow beards until after they are married). He was carrying a large box with some equally large glass jars (these jars probably held about 2 gallons apiece and there were about four of them in the box). I greeted him and he greeted me back, quiet but friendly. He chatted with the rancher and I realized that the containers had milk. Fresh farm milk??? INSTANT AMBER JOY! I let them chat for a moment and then shyly asked if the containers had milk and the Storekeeper affirmed it was. I hesitated and then inquired (rather cautiously because I really didn’t know what they did with their milk and was afraid my question might be insulting) if the milk was raw or pasteurized. The Storekeeper instantly said that it was raw, most definitely. Hot-diggity! I have been searching out places to get raw milk in this area for years. Farm milk, butter, eggs, honey… was Canaan hiding behind these poor-looking farms? I purchased the honey and asked about the milk and was told that to purchase milk, I must bring my own containers. Then I asked about the butter and he looked me over a moment and chuckled quietly, then said that I would have to get out of bed a bit earlier if I wanted to catch the butter. Tickled that he had taken the trouble to tease me, I thanked him and left. As I left I took a few quick shots of all the wagons and carts lined up for repair.


As I drove away, I had this strange sensation that I had been in another part of the world, even if just for a short while. I drove back another way and found another cluster of Amish farms that looked much more prosperous. I realized that this was the group who formed their living less by farming and more by horse training (from what I read online, they have quite the reputation among the locals for their skills with horses and breaking them into service). My favorite scene was that of a father walking his garden with two small boys; they were looking at the oncoming clouds and seemed excited by the possibility of rain.

So this was my first encounter with the local Amish but I guarantee it won’t be the last. I’ve already sampled the honey and it’s delicious!

Side Note: For some basic information about the Amish, check out this website. Please understand the various groups can have different ideas per church group (just like any other denomination) but this is an informative overview.