May 20

Written by: Mark Carboni
5/20/2009 11:32 AM

It has been 23 years since I ventured to the land of the Amish. No I was not in Pennsylvania, nor was I in Grabill but I was in Shipshewana.

Home of the mega-flea market ... where there is everything from homemade bread to socks. Not just socks, but truck loads of socks. White, black, gray all ankle high socks. If I saw one booth I saw 50 booths with socks. In addition to those personal artifacts, found glasses that were giveaways from gas stations that are now "worth" something. Flowers and trees and plants in full bloom and probably worth the drive itself. They were simply stunning array of colors. Speaking of an array of colors, who knew (err cared) that there hundreds of colors of crocks (err crock-offs)....

I made few purchases, because I really did not need much of anything. I did get a few handmade candles in some unique scents. One is called "Monkey Farts" which is kind of a banana and cherry scent. Not sure why the cherry but I guess we now know what the monkey ate before the candle was made. I also bought a tin man made out of tin cans of all sizes. It will hang on a porch to scare away the birds or perhaps the neighbors.

Following the 1/2 day walk around the flea market an appetite was building as fast as roof going on Rueben's home. So, we made our way to the Essenhaus in Middlebury. We enjoyed a meal that left me not hungering for food until lunch today. It was a great adventure, one that I am glad I took the time to pause long enough in my busy life. I know why the say don't put the cart before the horse - because it would only take that much longer when following in a car behind it.

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