AUTUMN IN OHIO- September 24, 2017

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!!