Mike M Loc: South Jersey

in Lancaster County, PA

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Looks like a nice peaceful ride.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

So I don’t know much about the Amish. Please correct me if I’m wrong. But a question we were recently out on out ATV in Colorado and we saw a couple in a RZR and she had the hat like this. If they are not allowed to drive, why was a motorized RZR ok? Just wondering.

SkyKing Loc: Thompson Ridge, NY

…they must be the Amish from Ohio….? “He’s my cousin…he’s from Ohio…”

kpsk_sony

AAAch! That fence breaks into a beautiful picture. The fact that just one of them turned around smiling really "makes" this picture. The cornfield background is graphically stunning.

Toby

Hope they are not headed for a bar!

CindyHouk Loc: Nw MT

They could have been Mennonites instead of Amish - Mennonites use motorized equipment and dress like the Amish....at least they do here in MT.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

The Amish in most places are now permitted to drive. I recently bought a horse from an Ohio Amish family, and the entire family brought him on the delivery drive. It was around 250 miles, and the furthest any of them had ever been from home. A twenty year old son drove - neither father nor mother knew how. Another son, 15 yrs old, knew how to drive, but was too young to drive on the highway.

We put them up for the night, but all the children (5) camped out in front of the large screen TV for hours - they had never before seen a TV. Although we spaced them out in four bedrooms, the three youngest (5 yrs to 11)spent the night in the parents' room, concerned by the strangeness of a different bedroom from home.

Years ago, when I still worked summers as a commercial pilot, I delivered a freight load to Lancaster Pennsylvania. I ran across several autos with bumpers and all the other chrome painted black. I was told the drivers were Amish who had learned to drive when drafted into the military (WW-II), and the local bishop had forbidden them to drive any vehicle with bright and shiny stuff.

There's lots more to their story, much of it unhappy....

kpsk_sony

As with all religions (and lifestyles) there are a number of different opinions (or sects) on whats "right" and what's "wrong". I was on a hotel elevator recently with a couple of teenage (maybe older than teens) who were part of a large party of Mennonites or Amish (I really did not know which) staying at the hotel. You know, bushy haired, lightly bearded, with straw hats , quiet and polite, and each one was carrying two (count'em TWO) sixpacks of Bud Light! Go figure!

Beowulf Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI

During the period known as Rumspringa, beginning at about age 16, Amish youth are no longer under the total control of their parents on weekends and, because they are not baptized, they are not yet under the authority of the church. During this time, many Amish youth adhere to traditional Amish behavior. But others are allowed a brief period of time in which they are allowed to experience the many distractions of the outside world to see if they are truly committed to the true Amish life.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Fantastic image!!!!! Mike

JRiepe Loc: Southern Illinois

Nice shot. I guess they are now allowed to wear something other than drab gray or black.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

You are right about that one girl turning to smile.

One of the PP experts here could take that fence out, I bet.

Stan

polonois Loc: Lancaster County,PA.

I think young teens are given some time to interact with the world. Then they have to make a decision whether they want to remain Amish or leave and become of the world. I know when I was 19 there was an Amish boy who had a 1969 Dodge super bee. He would park it in a lot near my home. On Friday and Saturday night he would go there in his buggy change his clothes and off he would go in the super bee. After midnight he would return, change and leave in his buggy.
One Friday evening I was in Paradise, Pa. getting gas for my car. An Amish buggy pulled up with two young teen Amish couples in they went into the gas station restrooms, changed their clothes and then left in a blue Camaro. The girls changed into colored blouses and short skirts. I'm not sure it was allowed or they just sneak around.

RichinSeattle

Regarding the fence, I really like the contrast of the modern fence and paved road with the century-old horse and buggy.