Enjoying Intercourse

     What could be more tranquil than a ride through Amish country in Lancaster County, PA?   The rolling hills and farmlands spread out in view speckled with only an occasional well kept farm to crowd the landscape.



     The land continues to support the economy of a people who have chosen a quieter, simpler way of life without the hectic pace of modern society.  Such is the life of those who live as the Pennsylvania Dutch.  While the term "Dutch" is really a misnomer being incorrectly transliterated from "Deutch" meaning German, they are a people who shun any celebrity or commercialism as they live along side those they term "The English."

 

     Last week I spent a day enjoying the bucolic countryside in towns with such colorful names as Bird-in-Hand, Paradise, and Intercourse.

 

     But my enjoyment was rudely interrupted when I came across an artificial village constructed with the sole intent of commercializing the life style of the people who had originally settled there.  As I pulled into the parking lot I was confronted with hoards of people descending from behemoth tour buses to experience a way of life contrary to their own.  It was discouraging to see such an invasion taking place right before my eyes.

 

 

     And what was even more disheartening to me was the commercialism of the "Plain People" of their own uncomplicated customs.  For a price I could take a horse and buggy ride in a specially built "stretch" carriage along the back roads, or if I chose, I could purchase a quart of freshly packed pickles that ladies had canned right before my eyes in a special kitchen built as a part of a country store (no pictures please!).

 

 

     Further down the road I did make a stop at an authentic orchard farm store and purchased a basket of Jonagold apples freshly picked from trees just feet away.  Somehow that seemed more honest to me.

 

     At the end of the day I came away feeling that Intercourse isn't all that's it's made out to be.