Witnessing a Roman Catholic ordination was not something I had planned to ever do. Until just recently, I didn't even know the Catholics had ordinations. But on a beautiful Saturday morning in mid-May, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia filled with a thousand or more well-dressed worshippers (standing-room-only) celebrating the ordination of nine young priests, and I was there too, loving the music and trying not to accidentally cross myself. A few weeks ago, I … [Read more...] about Mennonites Walk Into a Cathedral
Lancaster County
Riding the Red Rose Transit Bus for a Month
For the month of November, I took the bus to work. Friends suggested the idea to me in October, during a group discussion about the merits of public transportation. Public transportation, they proposed, is less stressful than driving your own car. It reduces traffic, it's cheap, it's gets you into contact with others. So I decided to give it a try. The bus that goes past my home and close to my office is provided by the Red Rose Transit Authority (called "RRTA"). The Red Rose is the … [Read more...] about Riding the Red Rose Transit Bus for a Month
A Wrong Turn to Sunflowers
A week ago, I made a wrong turn and discovered thousands of sunflowers— golden fields on gentle rolling hills. I pulled off on the side of the road to stare at the beauty. I was less than ten miles from home, but I had never seen sunflowers grown on a large scale before. Most sunflowers grown in the United States are raised in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, not Pennsylvania. Later I went back to the sunflower fields with my sister and nieces to take more pictures. We parked at … [Read more...] about A Wrong Turn to Sunflowers
Baking with Bonnet Novelists
The Facebook post read: Come Bake With Us! Author Chat with Sherry Gore. Ladies Luncheon, Holiday Baking. Door Prizes! Limited Seating. Tickets $45. "It's on a Saturday! Let's go!" I say to Mom. "It'll be a fun thing to do together." Both of us like Sherry's cookbook, Me, Myself, and Pie and her memoir, The Plain Choice. We knew Sherry recently moved to Bird-in-Hand, which is close to us. So we signed up and last Saturday, we drove to the Bird-in-Hand fire hall, where the event was being … [Read more...] about Baking with Bonnet Novelists
Tour Guide Teamster: My Friend Susanna’s Unusual Side Job
The wagon, loaded with Tennessee tourists, rolls forward, pulled by a pair of horses named Champ and Nicholas, guided by a tour guide teamster named Susanna, who lectures us on the Amish life as we take a buggy ride through Lancaster County farmland, in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Tourist buggies, which are the size of covered wagons, are a common sight in the tourist areas of Lancaster County. I've seen them for years, and today, I'm taking a ride on one of these buggies for … [Read more...] about Tour Guide Teamster: My Friend Susanna’s Unusual Side Job