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Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeCommentaryA Visit With Martha

A Visit With Martha

canned-pears-2There’s a certain something in the air when its cold. Something crisp and sharp. Whatever it is, it sets my mind to thinking about the bakery and farm we left behind some 6 years ago.  I miss the farm and the life we had there. I even miss going out to put wood on the fire that warmed our house. I  miss the orchard. I miss my friend Martha.

It seemed so much colder there than here in the winter, even though we were only 20 miles further to the north than we are now. And I do miss the friends we made while we were there. Surprisingly, the only friends we made were Amish people. They seemed to think we fit right in the community. I don’t really know why. We don’t dress like them, talk like them or think like them. That leaves me to think that we connected on a spiritual level, something deeper than clothing or hair; a faith connection that centered around Jesus Christ that not one of us really understood or could account for, but knew that it was there.

My friend Martha who lives there, near our old farm and who is Amish, called me the other day. Most people don’t realize that many Amish do have phones and electricity.  Most people in Clarksville don’t realize that the group of folks in and around Guthrie are not Mennonite but Amish.  The Amish here don’t drive automobiles, but they go everywhere in their tractors. Martha was checking to see if we wanted a kitten, and just to chat and catch up.

I had seen her this past summer when the children and I and some friends stopped by her house unexpectedly. We were going to ask her if we could use her picnic table to have our lunch. She offered her dining room table instead and we got to talk to her and her children while having lunch. She and her daughters were finishing up a big batch of home-canned pears.

She wants us to come back and visit some more. Once, Martha confided to me that she knew that if it weren’t for the restrictions of her church, our families would be inseparable. We definitely are very akin to each other in likes and dislikes, in interests and temperament. But their church doesn’t allow for fraternizing with “Strangers”. Those who are not part of the Amish tradition are tolerated, acknowledged, provided for when necessary, but not brought into the fold as friends or visited in their own homes. Martha is taking a small chance of rebuff when she calls me and invites me over.

tashatudorbook

We both like Tasha Tudor, roses, herbs, flowers in general, tea, messy overflowing gardens, canning and baking bread. That’s mostly what we talk about, that and children. We both sew out of necessity not out of a love for it. And we both have a very soft spot for anything small and fuzzy, like kittens or puppies, really any small animal.

I’m hoping to get up there and visit with Martha in a few days. I will call her today perhaps and set a time to come visit all day long.

We’ll take some books and favorite toys for the children to share. She has only one at home now during the day. I’ll take some little gifts from my kitchen, special breads, a jar of jam and some pickles. And I’ve ordered her some Tasha Tudor Tea. She will have a hot pot of tea brewed, something delicious baked. We’ll look at seed catalogs, books and talk about all those things that interest us.  Friendship bridges all kinds of gulfs.

Sylvia Britton
Sylvia Brittonhttp://www.christianhomekeeper.org
Sylvia Britton is a Clarksville native and owner of the Christian HomeKeeper™ Network website and ministry. She and her husband Mark are the parents of 5 children and grandparents to two little girls.  She enjoys reading, mentoring women, writing articles for several magazines, gardening and Tennessee history.
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