Wandering Amish Indiana

Since getting back from the Vietnam Veterans Reunion over in Howard County{Kokomo} Indiana, last Friday, I have stayed busy, with football officiating, yard mowing, and fighting off the head cold I contracted while camping in the damp conditions over there...

Yesterday my buddy Nick had decided to head back across the state line{some 12 miles} back into Indiana and stop at the Amish Farmer's Market between Berne and Decatur...I figured I would tag along, and take the opportunity to see if my favorite package store in Berne had resupplied their selection of "Fat Tire" beer.  After Nick purchased about $75 worth of cheese and package eats at Troyers, we stopped at Berne and to my smiles, I discover my favorite package store lady had set aside a couple of full cases of my favorite beer....Nick and I each purchased a case{$31 per} along with a cold six pack of the New Belgium Brewery's Oktoberfest Brew....."Pumpking"...with that in hand we decided to see how many old roads and near roads we could find as we zigzagged our way back into Ohio.

In the heart of eastern Indiana Amish Country, we found roads and places we never had seen...despite never being more that 25 miles from home at any one point....Amish Schools, Covered Bridges, old Amish Cemetery locations, and miles of dirt and gravel roads that led nowhere.  Here are some of the photos I took during our four hour and 75 miles of "wandering".....This weather{perfect} and this type of

"discovering" is why I feel the need to get back into Dual Sport Motorcycle riding.....by  next Spring I will, God willing, be back in that saddle.

Harvesting the Crop.....

Also this week I began harvesting some of my Sunflower Seeds....a bit early, since I planted late...but If I am to keep my personal seeds reproducing each year{along with help from the store stuff}, I figured I needed to pick and package them now, before the varmints, birds and squirrels} ate them all....they have already made a good dent into the Mammoth seeds, but I plucked enough off the flowers to stock up for next season....still more of the other smaller varieties to pick, but those will wait

until after the first frost....












Blast from the past......

Some 44 years ago in the fall of 1969 3 events topped my memory banks from my stay an Nha Trang AB on the South China Sea....2 air crashes and a rocket attack...all three affected me and my duties as a Air Force Security Policeman. 

(1) Photo attached...and Air Vietnam DC-3 crashed upon landing{an explosive device on board had detonated} 10 were killed on board and then the plane skited down the runway and crashed into a school house located at the end of same...killing another 50, many of those children...we were assigned to take care of the runway and keep the rubber necks and photophile types at bay.

(2)  Another F-105 crashed at the opposite end of the runway shortly before that December 1969 incident, the pilot, going the wrong way, survived, but 2 Army guys, in a 3/4 ton truck, along with several locals were killed.

(3) In October 1969, we were hit overnight by a NVA or Viet Cong Rocket and Mortar Attack....when I returned to my bunk and barracks, I picked up several pieces of shrapnel and boxed them up and sent them home...I still have those today.

Those were three memorable incidents from my stay at Nha Trang....2 days after Christmas 1969, I would be shipped to Tan Son Nhut{Saigon} where I would spend the next 6 months, before heading home, and the remainder of my Air Force tour.

Sports.....

I will work the 2nd of my 3 consecutive weeks of varsity football tonight....working again with Mosier's crew, this time as Head Linesman{the guy who controls the chains} at Ada{home of the NFL Football Factory} vs Bluffton....should be a wide open passing dominated game...

The Reds and Pirates begin the last series of the regular season tonight....a 3 game series at Cincinnati.   There will be a 4th game as well, that will come next Tuesday in the Wild Card game...whoever takes 2 of the 3{or all 3} this weekend will host the WC Game....so despite both teams eliminated from the Central Title{St Louis wins it}....the series will decide who gets to host the play-in game.

Meanwhile in the American League the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, and Texas Rangers, will decide which 2 will fill the WC game in that league.

In the NFL the Browns host the Bengals in the battle of Ohio, and #4 Ohio State will host #23

Wisconsin in the opener for the Buckeyes in the Big Ten.....seriously, despite upset predictions, I expect OSU to win fairly easy...but who am I to predict anything.

Heading out for some chores....enjoy the weekend...back later>>>>