AUTUMN IN
OHIO
Fall has arrived with spectacular colors, crunchy leaves to walk
in and this being Buckeye Country - lots of Ohio State Football. Since we are
seventy miles east of Columbus and well into the foothills of the Appalachian,
this is really rural America. Here's what we're enjoying out in the country
right now:
FARMS:
We spend a lot of time outside Coshocton tracking down
less-active members and have logged 12,000 miles on our car in the first four
months of our mission. The scenery in the rural hill country is truly storybook
- you could make a coffee table book of just the farms in our county.
ANIMALS:
We think we may have met more dogs and farm animals than we have
people. Kim makes bananas bread and cookies to give away - Paul carries dog
biscuits and jerky. The goats in this photo are new friends and the squirrel
raided our bird feeder. We tried to befriend the possum hiding under the
BBQ grill cover at an investigators home, but he wasn't interested. But the
animal we love the most is our beloved golden retriever Aggie - living back
home with our wonderful renters, the Gerbers.
APPALACHIAN
MUSIC:
We learned quickly that all country music is definitely not the
same. In the hill country it's not country western, it's not country, it's not
bluegrass - it's Appalachian music, and we love it! We've learned to love
Dulcimer music, both Hammer Dulcimer and Mountain Dulcimer. Listen to the
Vandeveer Brothers on YouTube if you want to hear some beautiful hammer
dulcimer stuff. We've also enjoyed harmonica music played at our Family Home
Evening by the oldest member of our branch, our beloved Erma Mizer.
NEW
FRIENDS:
One of our new friends is Rachel, who lost her husband Ray a few
months ago. He left behind a lot of farm equipment, tools, etc. and we're
having the privilege of helping Rachel, who is in her 80's, raise some needed
funds by selling the stuff. We were fortunate to sell the tractor last week
(pictured with Rachel) and we are now working on selling the rest of the stuff
in the barn. Another friend, Ruth Miller and her husband John, own Happy Hill
Farm - a successful wholesale/retail organic produce operation. They are an
extremely hard-working Mennonite couple - that's Ruth pictured in the
background behind our granddaughter Melia who was visiting their farm with us
recently. While they were here, we also visited the world's largest Cuckoo Clock
in Sugar Creek, in the heart of Amish Country. A stop at the feed store here
means sharing the parking lot with other forms of transportation - some of whom
burn oats rather than Chevron.
UNUSUAL
OHIO PLANTS:
We've learned about at least two new plants here - Osage Oranges
and Buckeyes. Osage Oranges, also known as Horse Apples and other names, are
about the size of a grapefruit and are very heavy, not edible but are good for
repelling spiders. We gathered a bushel of them outside our apartment and it weighed
about fifty pounds! The Buckeyes, which are a lot like Chestnuts, are famous
for being . . . Famous! Most folks know that residents of Ohio are
affectionately known as Buckeyes and of course the renowned football team at
Ohio State University are widely known as the Buckeyes as well.
We
love Ohio!!
