Last week, I was a tourist among my own people.
I first visited Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, when I was in my 40s and my niece Annette married a local. Subsequent trips were always rushed, but this time we scheduled a bit more flex into our weeklong visit. I spoke at two Mennonite women’s events, my husband attended meetings, and we saw relatives. But in between we had time to sit on the porch of our Airbnb and watch the Amish world go by.
“Oh my goodness! A buggy!” Hearing the approaching hoofbeats, I would whip out my phone to surreptitiously record a gray buggy pulled by a gorgeous dark-brown horse. One morning I took a photo of a young Amish man on an electric scooter leading a horse beside him…