More on The Amish

I couldn’t resist writing about this recent article on the Amish in the Washington Post brought to my attention by Erik on his Amish America blogpost (which I can’t recommend highly enough if this subject is of interest to you) where he summarizes Why We Are Fascinated by the Amish.

For me, I’d have to say that my family history is the main reason I am interested in the Amish. My great-grandmother and namesake, Carrie, grew up Amish in Northern Indiana. I remember my grandmother taking me to visit Amish kin when I was a little girl and I used to play with the kittens on their farm. Also, I’ve always had an interested in simple living and appreciate and respect those who choose a self-sufficient lifestyle.

And naturally, as a juvenile fiction writer, rumspringa is of great interest. One of the universal truths I used in order to write about my Amish protagonist Sarah Yoder, is the common coming of age questioning of faith. Doubting the religion one was raised in is something many young adults from all walks of life can identify with. But for Amish youth, I believe it is even more of a struggle because they will be required to answer that question in a very concrete way: will they decide to get baptized into the Amish faith? Or not and relinquish their ties to family and community?

I drew upon my own experiences from the Peace Corps when I was in Africa to help me understand Sarah. I was thrown into a completely new environment and seriously questioned my faith. Like Sarah, who is catapulted into the English work world to help her family survive the economic downturn of the family business due to the recession, she encounters a very different environment from the one in which she grew up. The boy she meets is the wild, free and naturally artistic punker Liam who, due to life circumstances is very mature for his age, like many of the Amish who from early on are given more responsibility than their English counter parts. Despite their dissimilar backgrounds they have much in common and find themselves irresitibly attracted to each other. 

As you can probably tell, I cannot wait to share this story of first love with you! And of course I am curious to know, what parts interest you in the Amish?

Randomness

So those of you close to me know that I have never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. My philosophy has always been if you’re not living the life you want to be living, why wait until the new year to start? Nevertheless, healthy eating is ALWAYS a good thing and Lord knows, I could do better on that front. So here is a picture of my after school snack today.

Whaddya think? Not bad?

Did I forget to mention the Coke I’m drinking as I write this? Oops.

Believe it or not, I enjoyed getting back into the swing of things yesterday with the return to school/work. I am a schedule fanatic and even though Christmas break was awesome and I got to sleep in like I haven’t in decades, it was nice to get back into a routine. Other than sleep, we hiked Mt. Sanitas on New Year’s day.

MKISA insists that this will become the new family tradition for New Year's day. We’ll have to see about that...

We went to a few movies, too. I can’t recommend The Cirque du Soleil film highly enough. It was exquisite. James Cameron is one of my filmmaker idols – that man has one of the best creative minds on the planet. Obviously, my next question was – how did those people DO that? A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Also, I got the best New Years gift from the Sanborn Elementary librarian – she favorited BETWEEN on their website!

How awesome is that? Thank you Ms. Juth and Sanborn Elementary, love that font, too – so fun!

Hope you’re having a great start to 2013!

All best,

Cari