Indiana Trip

Now I know why Tom over at Iced Tea Forever, an Oregonian transplanted to Indiana, refers to Oregon as Utopia.

--The water here tastes good.
--It does not snow in April.
--There are mountains here.
--The water here does not turn your sinks and showers brown.
--We do not have endless sad-looking fields of corn stubble.
--If you see another Mennonite in a store in Oregon, you say hello.
--Good coffee is plentiful here.
--True, we have RV factories here too, but we have a lot of other scenery as well. Such as mountains.
--The water here tastes good, which I may have mentioned before, but it is important.

A year and a half ago we went to Paul's nephew Kevin's wedding in Missouri in August, and I will always remember that wedding for the oppressive heat and humidity.

I think I'll always remember Nephew Neil's wedding for being cold. Thursday night we slept in a little travel-trailer that shook in the biting wind. We drove past snow in the ditches, and at the reception on Saturday we looked out the windows and watched the snow fall. Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful but oh-so-cold layer of snow on the ground.

The wedding was simple and pretty. Neil had his aunts in stitches up on the second bench after he escorted the bride's mom to the front and then stood there facing the crowd, waiting for the wedding party, and took a deep anguished breath and puffed his cheeks and blew a big sigh like Ooooh my goodness I wish this was over with. Aunt Barb is not the giggly sort but she laughed enough to earn a poke from Byran's fiancee Amy.

In true Mennonite fashion, the preachers sitting on the judges' bench looked solemn and grim. Bonnie informed Paul that he is to smile more than that when he preaches at Jessi's wedding. I told Bonnie in return that the two grooms in her summer, Kevin and Byran, need to smile more than Neil did. She didn't think that would be a problem at all. I think Byran especially will show lots of teeth at his wedding.

Neil smiled more at the reception. I would bet he smiled the most when it was all over and they drove away.

Starla looked like the sort of sweet and sensible girl who can apply the right sort of nutcracker to Neil's heart.

The three book signings were interesting and fun but not spectacular in terms of sales. The best part was meeting people I hadn't seen in years--Theda and Becky from our Canada days, my cousin's wife Anita, people Paul had met on his trip to Ghana five years ago.

The signing at Yoder's Hardware Store in Shipshewana was the most interesting. Being in the town itself was a most interesting cultural experience--buggies rattling down the street, Mennonites and Amish all over the place. Yoder's Hardware was a bit hard to find, as we first passed Yoder's Harness Shop, Yoder's Insurance, and Yoder's Bulk Foods (or something of the sort). We even passed, and later visited, a Spector's store, which brought back lots of nostalgia for me because they are THE Amish suppliers, and we used to pore over the Spectors insert in the Budget, pondering their ads for plisse and gingham and skip-dent, as well as suspenders and girdles and shawls.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a signing at a hardware store, but Yoder's turned out to be a huge barn of a building with groceries, hardware, china, clothes, fabric, and lots more. The owner came by and talked to me. He owns Yoder's, his last name is Jones, and he speaks Pennsylvania Dutch. Welcome to Indiana.

We had a nice supper, made by ITF himself, with Tom and Jewel, where I met my friend Ilva's dad, who is also Jewel's grandpa, and had the nicest conversation with him. Wow, to be that interesting and affirming when I'm in my 80's.

We had breakfast at the Dutchman's Essenhaus, a huge sprawling white establishment that serves home-fried hash browns and homemade whole-wheat toast for breakfast and can seat 1100 people, with Robert and Lily Riegsecker.

We stayed with our old friends Lowell and Doris Lee, who used to be singles up in Ontario and who are now the busy parents of eight very charming children.

Another fun-to-meet person was my friend Bertha's dad, Steve Yoder, who heads up an organization that helps the poorer Mennonite colonies in Mexico and writes an interesting newsletter with lots of the sort of anthropology that interests me.

On Sunday morning I woke up sick on my stomach, maybe from all that Hoosier water, who knows. Paul was scheduled to preach at "Todd's church"--Living Water, I believe, one of probably a hundred Mennonite churches in the area, all with compelling names like Pleasant Grove and Calvary Chapel and More Spiritual and Resisting Drift and You Can Have Videos If You Come Here But We Still Practice The Covering. He left with the Lees and I stayed at the house for an extra hour to calm things down, then I went for the sermon, which was good as always but Paul strayed from his notes for the last five minutes which always makes me, as Niece-in-law Brenda says, hang onto my seat with both hands.

We came home late Sunday night. The house was clean. The children were safely asleep. The water was perfect. My pot of tea this morning tasted like all good teas ought to taste.

Quote of the Day:
(at Kevin and Brenda's cute little house on Thursday evening)
Anne: (who is still a mom even though her children are grown, very agitatedly) You need a spoon!
Barb: (who was eating mixed fruit with a fork and is a grown woman and a doctor and does not appreciate mothering) I know how to eat!
(Pause)
Anne: (still agitated) Barb, you need a spoon!!
Barb: I said, I know how to eat!
Me: (thinks) Only the Smuckers. . .