Amish Country Owl Safari!

Working hard to bring you Bird Watcher's Digest doesn't leave a whole lot of room for the staff to play. 

But in an epic snowy owl invasion year, how could we not make a try for the nearest bird?

Which happens to be in Amish Country, just two hours northwest of us in Ohio.

Bill threw together the company van and Marcy (Mrs. Tools) brought her big Suburban, and I trailed behind in my Subaru for reasons of my own. Mostly because I knew I wouldn't be able to leave a snowy owl and return to Marietta by 2 pm, nuh-uhh. 

We looked for a bird near the intersection of Kidron Rd. and Route 250. Dipped out for the better part of an hour. And then Bill spotted it atop a silo, of all places, where it looked like a blinding white decoy. The bird spooked when we pulled over, and sailed right past our vehicles, the sunlight coming through its great white wings. 

It landed in a cornfield and there it sat, turning its head occasionally, for at least the next four hours. Kyle phonescoped this image. What a thrill to see! Six of our party had never seen a snowy owl before, so there was a lot of celebrating to do. There's Marcy at far left, Steve with the Fudd hat, Carol, obscured, Ann with the green gloves, our new Managing Editor Dawn with the red coat and matching shoes (!), Kyle just right of her, Melody, a guy from Indiana, and me, with my giant brown hands. Function first, fashion, dead last.

We repaired to the Country Crossroads for lunch, parking alongside the transportation standard in the area. 

I'm glad Amish horses don't mind having their photos taken.

Perusing the menu, many of us regretted coming on a Thursday.

There would be no noodles, home fries or Manager's Favorites. That's OK. That Manager's Favorite sounds kiiinda heavy. The waitress explained that they don't have much room in the kitchen on Thursdays because that's when something or other gets delivered. Sorry. I'm foggy on the details. I love idiosyncratic menus and hidden basement cafes. I heard Low German being spoken among the regulars, more than half of whom were Amish. It was like walking into another world. 

We all got admirably fed anyhoo. Blackberry pie, mmmm.

I was teleported right back to the cafes of North Dakota.

After lunch, the staff returned to Marietta, as it was production week for the magazine. My adventure was just beginning. I continued less than a mile farther down Kidron Rd. to Lehman's Hardware, dodging buggy teams all the way.

This place, this place. Woodstove and cookstove showroom. Propane refrigerators, too.

Cookie cutters, organized by genus.

Just the ladles made me dizzy. This is a place for people who still cook. A lot.

I went a little nuts in the popcorn section. To see all the red, blue, purple, yellow and rainbow popcorns all laid out and labeled...I succumbed. And picked up some nifty kale and lettuce seeds and my favorite Kirk's Castile Soap and strike-anywhere box matches while I was at it. I could easily live at Lehman's Hardware. It's my kinda stuff.

My day was to get even better from there...