Going Home....

Home.

Whenever we drive in over 35W and see Lake Superior and the City of Duluth, the city set on a hill, that's the feeling I get.We had the grand opportunity to go home again couple of weeks ago. We were just in Minnesota last Thanksgiving, so for us to be able to go back just a few short months later, is nothing short of incredible.In spite of the big oil spill in The Gulf, Eben was able to secure some leave time and drive us. Normally, he is the type of driver that conquers the distance all at once, and then rest when we reach the destination. This time, we took the scenic tour to Minnesota. Scenic.....another word for saying, we were locked together in the car for 3 endelss days, with only bathroom breaks in between. I'm still trying to figure out how we ended up in Dallas....as Texas is nowhere north of Louisiana at all. But Eben did make up for our detour by purchasing the girls some gorgeous cowgirl boots.....that they really haven't removed from their feet since.Hotels are a boring waste of time to me. Unless, of course, you are going to be spending time at one. We didn't. There was no time to swim in the heated pool, or work out in the gym, or see the sights. We were usually in the lobby eating our continental breakfast by 7 AM. There was time for luggage carrier rides, however.We stopped at a fantastic little country store on the Iowa border that boasted in their roadside signs to have authentic Amish handycrafts. I convinced Eben that I NEEDED to go there.

I am so glad we did. I met a wonderful Amish woman and her granddaughter, who sold me the most gorgeous handmade dinner roll basket. There were so many wonderful things in that store, it was almost impossible to pick just one item to carry with us in our already overcrowded van. Since the Amish are such private people, I did not photograph them, although some Amish communities allow people to photograph their children. I did ask for permission to take a picture of their buggy, and she was quite happy to allow me.Directly behind the Amish Country Store was an authentic One Room Pioneer Schoolhouse. The door was locked, but someone came out and let us in. It had rows and rows of the wooden desks, some of the old schoolbooks that the children would use, and even some of the old clothing that the children wore to the school back in the early 1900's. It was really neat. The girls played school for a few minutes, and The Big Apple pointed out that our own homeschool is very much like the one room schoolhouse. This is an old woodstove....and quite obviously, the schoolhouse has been renovated to allow for electricity, as seen in this picture.
The rules for conduct for the teachers is a little extreme. I mean, not allowed to hang out at the ice cream store? Not wear bright colors? Really?

I would have failed the 8th grade for sure.

But at least prayer was still permitted in schools back then.