19th century saw

Here's a close-up of the saw. This blade is about six feet long, a wooden handle attached at each end. You pull it towards you. Your mate pulls it away. I had fun as a child helping my dad saw with it.

grandpa's two-man saw fells oak

L. to R. below--Ryan, me, Joel, and Milton gathered today to bring down the oak. It never truly lived since it left the nursery. It must have suffered poisoning at the contruction site before we got it for free. For two years I had hope. My father's two-man saw takes it down and then slices the trunk into short logs. Think of that, cutting up a tree without any imported materials such as gas! Then it was hot chocolate with marshmallows in the kitchen.

tools of the feast

Dorcas got the fancy knives out today to see that they are ready for Thanksgiving. We plan for 16 persons on Thursday. The turkey's coming from an organic farm in Lititz. Not flying in. Sarah plans to pick it up. photo by Joel

woodpecker in snow

Snow was falling lightly after breakfast. A pair of red-bellied woodpeckers had some seeds outside the window. Step carefully when walking down a snowy roof! Now help me out if you know this bird is not a red-bellied.

pilgrims in the village

Montereyans don't forget Thanksgiving Day. Let's see--it's the day we remember Pilgrims eating out with Indians one fall day. Synchronize that with Sesame Street images and you have a bright display on main street. Are the Indians sitting on the bales, or do they show up later?

wedding today

Approach Monterey from the north and here's your first sight on the left. Amish revival meeting in a tent? No. Well, kind of.

It's revival. It's conversion. It's sweaty palms and nervous teens. It's till-death serious. It's not under the tent. It's a wedding today at the neighbor's place. The bride and groom are in the two-story shop between the tent and the house. The horses have run of the tent. Well, tethered run.

new office for Dorcas

Friday at dusk I helped Dorcas move into her new office at Lancaster Mennonite School. It's wider by three feet. Top photo is the last peek before we stripped the walls and everything else. Below is the new office with the things moved but not set up yet, mirror on floor. Each room has the same single window

more family

Several moments in our family story converged and brought us together, 14 of us, Nov. 10 in Harrisburg. I won't try to prioritize.

Nov. 10 was the 27th anniversary of Dad's passing. Photo 4. It was the return from Syria of Mel, one week after Gary's death for Evie, and the first evening out for Loretta after back surgery.

Photo 3. Another moment was the visit of Oregonians Bonnie and Chris. And, photo 2, it was the one-year anniversary of Joel and Stephanie. We anchored them at the end of the Chinese restaurant table. All in all it looked like this, photo 1.

after the interment

After the interment we returned to the cars to plan the 30-minute drive back to the church to enjoy the fellowship meal. L to R, Dorcas, Sarah, Stephanie, Joel, Ryan, and Patrick.

good-bye Gary

Gary Shaar's funeral was held at the Hope United Methodist Church in Ephrata, Pa., today, at 10 a.m. We got the bouquet of flowers given by the whole family at Central Market. Arrived at the church in plenty of time for the 9 a.m. viewing. The interment followed at Sinking Spring. There my sister Anna Lois (l), brother Milton, and Evie, my sister the new widow, contemplate the cemetery tent.

brother-in-law dies

Nearly everyday my newspaper reading includes the obituary page. Here's the sad news of Gary's sudden passing--sudden as in instantaneous. My sister, Evelyn, had dropped him off at the house after a doctor's visit. While she drove on to the pharmacy he walked into the house and died.

He often said at family gatherings, I never saw a U-haul trailer behind a hearse, meaning one can't take anything from this world to the next. After a Thanksgiving feast he would say, I wonder how the rich live, meaning the rich could eat no better than we just did.

I'll miss him. I doubt if he would have voted for Obama, but his obit (first three paragraphs here) was published in the same paper that announced Obama's election.

Why Obama won

1. Sarah and I attended his rally at Stevens Tech in Lancaster Mar. 31. There she is, waiting. He would soon step up to the podium.

2. He popped a "vote" flier on our front porch rocker on Saturday.

When asked to put an Obama sign on our lawn, I begged off, saying our house is in Amishland National Park and the natives would not understand.