Ohio

Leaving Toledo early this morning, I decided to get off the turnpike and do some exploring. So I set off on Highway 20 toward my destination of Kidron, south of Cleveland. Immediately I was plunged back in time, driving through towns with names like Stony Ridge, Lemoyne and Luckey, all proudly displayed in bold letters on large white water tanks. I passed businesses like the All Washed Up Car Wash, the Speed Trap Diner & Dairy and the Winesburg Motel, where the rooms are All Real Nice. I passed through other towns with large Catholic churches and others with the more austere Methodist or "Country Baptist" buildings. In every town it seemed like every house had a porch swing or rockers and front yards were awash in the bright pinks and oranges of blossoming azaleas and rhododendrons.

Between the towns lay nothing but miles of absolutely flat farmland, dotted with tall grain silos next to huge gambrel-roofed barns. But as I traveled further east and turned south as well, the terrain turned to gradually rolling hills and the barns got straight roofs (though they were still just HUGE).

The biggest surprise came when I crested the rise of a hill and there in front of me, coming the other direction, was a big wooden wagon pulled by four horses and driven by a young Amish man dressed all in black and standing in the wagon bed as he held the reigns. Then, over the next hill, I saw farm after farm with fresh laundry flapping from clotheslines--black trousers and dresses and shirts in dark cottons of blue and maroon and purple. On one front porch railing were woven rugs, hung out in the warm sunshine. It was quite a sight to behold.

My destination in the little town of Kidron was Lehman's, the country store that caters to the Amish and Mennonite farmers and some of the rest of us too. We have long loved pouring over their catalogs, but the store was just a little too overwhelming. It was fun to browse through the many products I've only seen in photographs, but my stomach was telling me it was long past lunch time, so I soon headed north to check into my motel and do some futher exploring.