We woke up to news of the imminent arrival of hurricane Irene onto the east coast just south of North Carolina. By all accounts it will bring strong winds but will not have the devastation of Katrina. We are confident that our flights will go ahead as planned, but we're watching closely.
We were allowed a much needed sleep-in this morning and met Bill to go and visit his hometown, Berkshire. It the centre of the town square their is an old sagging log cabin. Inside we were given a tour of the maple syrup making machinery by a well-fed lumber-jack looking man. We bought kettle popcorn at the local market made by another large man with a stick and a copper kettle. We walked along the main street and popped into an antique shop. The owner was a doctor of genetics and was most excited to tell us that he had recently given a lecture on genetic mutation in the Afrikaner community. We offered to leave Paul Venter as a live specimen, but the good doctor felt that his mutation had gone too far. Back at the market an Amish woman sold fresh produce - our first sighting! We were warned not to take photographs of the Amish people as they believe that the photograph may capture a piece of their soul. We visited a replica of a 19th Century town where a wedding was being prepared with popcorn on every table. We drove into Amish country carefully avoiding the buggies and horse manure. We stopped at an Amish road side store and saw some of the beautiful quilts for which they are so famous. The dolls and teddy bears have no faces as this would be making graven images - a bit creepy to the unschooled eye. They are charming people who live simple lives and eke a living from the soil and their handy craft. It was quite amusing to see a line of buggies parked outside the local Wallmart and we clandestinely took a snapshot. Also worth mentioning is the drive-through window for buggies at the Mary Yoders Amish kitchen where we had lunch.
Tomorrow we visit the Niagra Falls so it is up early once more.
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