A Goat Named Don

"Let's go buy some flowers for my garden," my Dad said to me one day a few years ago.  Little did I know I was in for a little adventure.  We headed off and after a short while I asked him, "Where are we going?"  "To the Kenegy's" he said.  I didn't recall ever hearing of that garden shop.

Shortly we pulled up to a dwelling.  We were greeted by a slightly stout Amish woman.  No, I am getting ahead of myself.  We were greeted by a goat named Don.  He was tied by a rope to a tree.  My Dad proudly pointed to the goat and said, "That goat is named after me!"  The Amish family liked my Dad so much they named the goat after him.

My Dad and I proceeded into the house.  The Kenegy's were so glad to see us.  They would not have it that we would just buy the flowers and leave.  Mrs. Kenegy insisted that I take a tour of her house and her yard and her greenhouse where she grew all her flowers and plants.  She was very proud of everything.  Well not proud.  Amish people are not allowed to be proud.  Let's just say she seemed to be happy with what she had.  And she had a nice household for a simple one. 

After the tour, we went into the house.  We sat around and talked.  Then Mr. Kenegy pulled out his Kenegy roots book.  We spent some of the afternoon talking about his roots, nothing specific, just how to research them.  He didn't even know if the people in the Kenegy book were his relatives.  Yikes, this was the boring part of the afternoon!

Meanwhile, Mrs. Kenegy got up and busied herself with something at the oven.  Curious I got up to see what she was doing.  She opened the oven and pulled out an Amish dress!  I gasped, "You dry your dress in the oven?"  And she said right back, "Yes, don't you?" in a playful way.

Then I went and sat down at the kitchen table again.  Mr. Kenegy put back the geneology book and got out a bowl of walnuts and a nutcracker.  He began painstakingly cracking walnuts.  "I have a black walnut tree.  I shell these and sell them to make money."  Gee I thought, how much money can you make by growing your own walnuts and shelling them for hours?  Such an industrious man.

While we were sitting there Mrs Kenegy got up and got us fresh gingersnaps that she had made (must have been before she cooked her dress).  She insisted we eat them.

Somehow one of them brought up homosexuality.  Mr. Kenegy said, "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."  I agree with him.  I don't know what my Dad thinks.  If he does disagree, I doubt he would say anything out of respect for the Amish man.

The afternoon wore on and they insisted that we be sent off with gingersnap cookies.  They were such wonderful people. 

I have heard that Amish are standoffish, but the ones around here will invite you right into their homes sometimes, the Kenegy's are not the only Amish family around here that has let my family in...