The Narrowed Lens: My name is Meredith and I am an Amish Tracker

There. It's out and the world can go ahead and just know that yes, I am a professional Amish Tracker. I've read both fiction and non-fiction on the Amish, have made several trips to regions where they live, and have interacted with them on the business level many, many times. In short, I'm pro.

This summer mom and I visited my aunt and uncle in Pennsylvania, where they live minutes from pockets of Amish communities. It's a dream come true.We drive around for hours, looking for places where we can observe them in their natural habitats and buy fried pies from their bake stands. (I've mentioned my affinity for fried pies in the past. If you haven't had one, get one). We watch them ploughing in their fields, sitting on their front porch, and driving along in their buggies. It's essential to to take turns and hills slowly in areas with a large Amish population...there could always be a buggy just out of sight.

In order to know if a particular street has Amish inhabitants, we trackers look for "Amish exhaust" in the road, i.e., horse manure. :) If no maure is in sight, there likely isn't anything of interest to see. We pros know that and look instead for greener pastures (or dirtier roads).

I simply love seeing Amish kids running around! They're so cute! I think I've decided the biggest reason behind this is because they are dressed like miniature adults. Plain dresses and hats for girls, plain pants and shirts for the boys. I love driving up to their homes and buying blueberries and cucumbers straight from their gardens. The yards are usually immaculate, leading me to believe that the rest of the home is probably also kept in perfect order.

As most people know, the Amish don't like to have their picture taken...they think it's some kind of graven image. Therefore, one must be covert :) I just couldn't resist snapping this one:

SO cute! I told you they look like miniature adults :)

Here are some other common sights in Amish-land. If you haven't seen this quiet, hardworking set of people in action, I recommend a visit to Holmes County, Ohio. I've been twice...it's paradise for the seasoned Amish Tracker, like myself. :)

Does your kid plough? Their's does.

I just love this :)

One of those immaculate houses I was telling you about...see what I mean? Everything in perfect order. Incidentally, I bought blueberries here. Yes, they were delicious and many of them are still gracing my freezer.