Autobiographical Corner and Amish Stuff
Whew. I survived another summer. I'm pretty sure I enter every summer with this mindset: Things are going pretty well, I feel relaxed, I'm looking forward to these next couple of months. And then: Wham! Summer turns into the barrage from hell. This year, the hell started when I took a week off work in late June. Ever since then, I haven't been able to catch up at the office and stress has dominated my life. It kinda baffles me how every summer seems to bring the same phenomenon to my life, while everyone else seems so relaxed and happy. When other people seem sad that summer is ending, I'm calmly pleased. * * * * * * * So tell me: Am I alone out there? Is this a "man with too many kids" thing? A lawyer thing? A loser thing? I'm genuinely curious. My only solace in this is Marie, who likes keeping busy, enjoys taking trips, and enjoys visitors. She even exclaimed to me on Sunday after our last commitment of the season had ended, "Wow, I'm really looking forward to relaxing and things getting back to normal." * * * * * * * I saw this piece at Listverse last weekend: 10 Weird Facts about the Amish. I live, I'm told, in the largest Amish area of the country, after Pennsylvania. I have Amish clients and Amish social acquaintances ("friends" would be too strong, but acquainted enough for me to say, "Hey, Jebediah, how's it hanging?" when I see one of them, which isn't often). The list is fairly accurate, as far as I can tell. Despite their peaceful and pacifistic principles, the Amish ain't saints and, given their unusual lifestyle, it probably should come as no shock that their sins are often highly unorthodox . . . and their way of dealing with them unorthodox. Law enforcement around here doesn't even like dealing with severe crimes in the Amish community because they're occasionally treated as lepers and never get the customary cooperation. * * * * * * * BTW: The Verne Troyer account appears to be accurate. I never knew Verne (I knew him as "Mini Me" before I knew he grew up less than ten miles from me), but we have a lot of common friends/acquaintances.
