Date: 2003-07-20
From: Rusty's Place

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

start Rusty's Placedestination Waynesboro (again)What a totally awesome day today. I did absolutely no miles!! I know, I know, I need to be doing some miles or I will never get to Maine, but great blue blaze adventures keep getting into the way of my hike. Today it was the offer by Rusty to take any of the hikers to church with him that wanted to go. This is one thing that I really, really miss. Going to church. The logistics of being in town and able to go to church just don't come together too often. Since Rusty is Amish and I am familiar with the Mennonite Church, I knew I wanted to go with him. I have never in my whole life heard singing like I have in the Mennonite Church and this was an Amish/Mennonite Church. Rusty loads 7 hikers up in his truck. We have all put on long pants and T shirts to attend church. The church frowns on people wearing shorts, so they provide Rusty with appropriate attire for any hikers who would like to come to church with him. We are all greeted warmly and welcomed to the church. It is obvious that we are hikers but we do not feel out of place. The congregation looks beyond what we are wearing to who we are. Rusty has been bringing hikers to church for years. As is customary for these people, the women and men sit on different sides of the church. Everyone is dressed in the same style of clothes, and shoes. No trying to copy a fad or be in vogue here. Only the colors of the ladies dresses and the mens shirts vary. Everyone is dressed the same down to their shoes. We are asked by some young women to sit with them. I have previously told Mudbutt about the singing in the church. I am not disappointed. The congregation starts to sing. The absense of musical instruments only intensifies the sounds of four part harmony singing. I imagine that the angels in heaven could sound no better than what I am hearing. Mudbutt looks at me in amazement. I do not sing, but close my eyes and just listen. To my sorrow only one song is sang. The message is a very good one. It is about being judgemental and critical of each other. Mudbutt and I have had several in depth conversations about this over the last few weeks. One of my greatest faults is being critical and judgemental. I struggle with that daily, and long to gain complete victory over that area of my life. If I could only see people as Christ sees them. So much of what I do, or beleive is based solely on how I was raised. Not especially the things that were said, but the things that weren't said. My mother was a super critical person, and naturally my early years were influenced by that. I am not blaming her. She was raised with those same issues herself. Her parents were from Germany in the US at a time when we were at war with Germany. The fact that they were Catholics only intensified feelings from other people. Man, how did I get off on that?? Back to the church. Different families in the church offer to take the hikers to their home for dinner after the church service. Since there are so many of us today, we are divided between several families. Detour, Mudbutt and I are taken to the home of the Swareys, Ivan and Lena. The men folk go to the living room while the women finish the final touches to the dinner. Mudbutt and I fix the salad, working along side of Lena and her daughters. There are 6 daughters and one son. We only get to meet three of the girls. One of them, Karen was one of the first ones to greet us at the church. Dinner, boy what a treat!! Meatballs in some sort of delicious sauce, fresh corn, a potato casserole, salad made with fresh vegetables, and homemade yeast rolls. Light and fluffy. Golden brown and iced with butter. There is fresh salad dressings and strawberry jam. Oh, and sweet tea. Real sweet tea!!Perfectly brewed and sweetened with sugar. We ate and ate and ate and ate some more. Then just as we thought we could not eat another bite, out comes dessert. Excuse me, desserts. Peanut butter melt in your mouth pie, and pumpkin pie like nothing I have ever tasted. Topped of course by ice cream. The fellowship was as great or even better than the meal. We all sat around the table outside and talked. Once again, we were made to feel very much at home. So much at home in fact when the time came to do the evening milking of the cows, Mudbutt and I jumped right in. Theirs is a small dairy operation with a herd of about 40 cows. Since the one son is married and has moved away, the remaining girls at home pitch in to help run the farm. Rubber boots replace the plain black shoes the girls wear. Each girl has a very good working knowledge of the daily operation of the farm. Like one of them said, "This is all I have ever known". I am impressed by the way they work as a team, each one doing a job. They are confident and sure and more than willing to answer all of our questions. This is Mudbutt's first visit to a dairy farm. I get plenty of laughs as she asks questions and ooohhss and haaass over the cows. She gets brave and jumps at the chance to milk a cow by hand. I have my camera ready. She laughs as she gets the first spray of milk out. The girls all laugh as we both try our hand at attaching the automatic milking devices to the cow's utters. Too soon, Rusty is here to pick us up and it is time to say goodbye. Our hostess sends us away with a bag of rolls. This will taste great on the trail. I have always been intriqued by the Mennonites and Amish. There is just such a peace about them. Sure their dress is different and their ways are different. But there is something different that goes beyond the outward appearence. I do not know what it is. I cannot explain it. I know they have the same trials we all do with children, relationships, jobs, tempers. The day to day struggles of the human man. Yet there is such a difference. Is it the lack of exposure to the so called worldly things that make such a difference? Is it because everyone dresses the same?? There certainly seems to be a lack of keeping up with the Jones's here. Or is it because they simply live what they beleive?They beleive simply and live that way. Again, I am envious of that. I want that inner peace. That quiet godly spirit that draws people with it's warmth. I feel so blessed to have been allowed to share in this day. Back at Rusty's, I pack my gear and say yet more goodbyes to friends. I hug both Rusty and Pirate. Who knows when or if I will ever see them again. My life has been made richer and fuller by these friendships. I feel like I have done miles and miles today. Maybe not in walking but surely in making new friends and learning new things. In being able to look at others in a different light, and seeing beyond the outward appearance and of the heart. And then I am reminded that this is exactly what the Bible says in 1st Samuel 16:7, Man looks on the outside but God looks on the heart.Rusty drops us off at the Holiday Express in Waynesboro. I find that I am somewhat of a celebrity. I made the front page of the paper with my walk for polio for Rotary. It does not seem possible, but we are hungry for supper, so we walk across the street and enjoy a good meal. Not anything like we had for lunch though. I check at the Best Western for my hip belt for my pack that was supposed to be mailed two weeks ago. It is not there. I have lost enough weight that my hip belt is too big and I cannot tighten it. Tomorrow I will have to try and track it down. Another trip to the hot tub and so ends another fantastic day.total miles 0can't count the smiles 5 Million Steps for Polio