I have always had great admiration for the Amish…  this was my chance to live the life!

Minus their wardrobe.

Last week our internet went down.  I felt like the train was leaving the station and I was left running after it, with my arms waving …  but no one noticed.

Pinterest, Facebook, news, weather, our local TV, Netflix, Amazon,  email, my cell phone, my computer, all of it was barreling down the track.

The world outside of our little kingdom kept spinning – without us.

When you live out here in the backwoods, the internet brings the outside world to your fingertips.

Even our cell phones need the internet to power the booster for them to work.

Ninety-six hours later it was up and running at full speed.

But I am not so sure I was ready for its return.

Living without the internet changed my life…

…at least for 96 hours.

The Amish live without these things.  What would the Amish do?  I soon began to make the best of this situation.

After doing the usual morning chores of feeding and watering,  I made a hat rack, with some help from Sir Lots-a-Wit.

I switched the chairs on the deck with the ones on the patio.

The next day I moved it all back again.

The 3rd day I moved them all again.

After taking the time to test the view from each chair, this is what I decided worked best.

We sat on the dock and drank lemonade that I squeezed fresh that morning.

Then we cheered the gazillions of tiny fish that were swimming for their lives.

We paddled the dinghy over to the south end of the gulch and snapped some photos of the cattails.  Just because….

I showered outdoors – something that I have rarely done.

Let me tell you it was pure exhilaration!

Toward evening I wrapped up in a blanket as we sat outdoors and watched the stars compete with the lightening bugs.

We shared a bottle of wine…

did you get that?  A bottle!!

As in “not a box!”   We wanted to celebrate life!

Okay, this part was not so Amish.

I picked wildflowers from the fields.

Then displayed them throughout the house.

I harvested our lavender and made sachets to put under our pillows.  I wish we had “scratch & sniff”, it smells heavenly.

After feeding the fish from our dock, I sat back in my chair.  This is highly unusual for me as I am usually sitting on the edge, ready to move on, always in a rush – but this day I relaxed and sat back letting the breeze and the sun wash over my face as I looked up to the billowing clouds floating overhead.

It was 96 hours of pure serenity.

There was an air of simplicity and purpose.

I felt so grateful for the pleasures my senses experienced thanks to Mother Nature.

None of this would have taken place if I had been watching another kitten video on FaceBook or another episode of Game of Thrones or Better Call Saul.

As it turned out, this was something I would like to experience for a couple of days each season.

Like a mini “Staycation” from electronics.

I know where that internet switch is…

This might be something for us all to consider.

These Amish might be on to something.

*****

Thank you so much for reading.

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