The steady clip-clop sound of horses trotting down the road is a daily occurrence at our home.
The calming sound often makes my blood pressure lower as I pause to let the rhythm of the horses’ hooves set a cadence and slow my breathing.
Breath in, six clops. Breathe out, six clops. Breath in, six clops. Breathe out, six clops. Repeat…
Horses pulling enclosed buggies with Amish families headed to church; open courting buggies on Saturday nights; and pony carts carrying loads of children to school during the week, give a view to the past and a peek inside a slower pace of life chosen by some today.
For my birthday 10 years ago, my sister treated me to a surprise buggy ride with her Amish neighbor, Ruby. It was market day.
We set off from Ruby’s farmhouse near Goshen and headed to the Dutch Country Market near Middlebury, Ind. What would have taken us a few minutes by car took nearly three-quarters of an hour by horse and buggy. I wouldn’t have traded a moment of it.
Gazing through the window of Ruby’s enclosed buggy, the countryside took on a new dynamic at the slow and steady pace set by Bob, Ruby’s horse.
Meadows take on new depth of scope when you can see butterflies flitting from flower to flower – flying almost as fast as the horse at his Saturday morning slow walk up hill. Streams I never noticed on automobile trips through that part of the countryside became babbling brooks singing a greeting to passersby. A steady breeze blowing across fields of corn gave the rising and falling field of green leaves the appearance of waves rolling across Lake Michigan.
The quiet countryside was anything but quiet. The music of steady horse hooves, birdsong missed by passing motorists, bleating sheep and lowing cattle were the soundtrack to our trip. So peaceful.
The timing couldn’t have been better. I had experienced an emotionally traumatic event the day before and wasn’t certain I was up to traveling to Goshen for the planned visit. Not wanting to disappoint my sister, I headed south to celebrate a birthday – on a day when I felt nothing like celebratory.
Now that several Amish families have moved into our community, I have daily reminders of how glad I am that I stepped out of my comfort zone to trust the unknown that day 10 years ago. Had I not, I would have missed the blessings – and the lessons – I experienced on the road to the market in Ruby’s buggy.
While I won’t be trading in my little black SUV for a black horse and buggy any time soon, I will remember that faster isn’t always better. You miss the magnitude of the beauty of small details when you rush by. That the kindness and generosity of strangers can be good medicine when you’re hurting.
Ruby has no idea how much her willingness to let this “fancy” girl ride with her to market that day soothed my hurting soul. And that there’s much that other cultures, people with different traditions and of different generations, can teach us if we’ll step out of our comfort zones and get close enough to enter into their lives and see the world from their perspective.