The Simple Life and Freedom to Choose?

I have “minimalists” friends. They live and decorate their home sparingly. Don’t subscribe to the newspaper – read it at our public library. 

I respect those who try to live simply or resist over-scheduling, over-technology, and over-abundance. Those who live off the land are my favorite. My grandpa retired from a factory to try his hand at farming. I've been a preschool teacher, hospital chaplain, parent educator, magazine columnist, and now an author, blogger, and speaker. We have the freedom to live by our convictions, right?

Not so the Amish - especially those of the Swartzentruber Order.

My Amish Dental Lab Visit

"Want to go with me to the lady's house?" Sarah asked me.

"What lady?" I replied.

"The one who makes teeth."

Finally . . . a first-hand view of an Amish dental lab. I've often heard about these services within the self-sufficient Amish communities. In my post Amish Best Kept Secret I wrote about their own (unlicensed) dentists but now I actually get to see where the partials and dentures are crafted. What a cultural experience!

Sarah drove for about an hour, winding through curvy two-lane country roads into the small Amish-saturated tourist town of Berlin, Ohio. It's green rolling hills scattered with Holstein and Jersey cows are alluring eye candy to this city gal. Sarah turned from its main road down onto a narrow, unnamed, single-lane path. On the left stood a small ranch-style house. Sarah pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine.