by MarianBeaman | Jun 20, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Lists, meditation, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
March 1986: Mom and Dad Longenecker visit the families of my sister Janice and me in Jacksonville, Florida. We all enjoy Epcot in Disney World, Dad’s chance to see a faux version of the Switzerland he never actually visited but planned to some day. My...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 17, 2015 | Amish, Amish fiction, blog, book review, Conflict, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
Cool Amish guys have replaced the dreamy looking girl with a huge covering and plain dress popular on the cover of some Amish romance novels. The images have done a flip. Now the young Amish-man with suspenders and broadfall pants and straw hat takes center stage....
by MarianBeaman | Jun 13, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Recipes, Uncategorized
The Corn Palace Bird beaks peck away at grains of corn on the walls of The Corn Palace. Still, the murals created with several colors of dried corn and grain arrest the eye. On our trip West we visited this grand monument to farmers and the grain industry they...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 10, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
The Marlboro man, pictured as a cool-guy cowboy in a fresh country setting, ruled cigarette advertising from 1954 -1999. Smoking then was considered glamorous and cool, a way to fit in with the crowd. One of our most popular presidents, Ronald Reagan, was formerly a...
by MarianBeaman | Jun 6, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Lists, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Tips, Travel, Uncategorized
The postcard says Metzie and Molly if you look closely, but Joann and I were unofficially known as Mighty Metz and Sister Styx, the dashing duo that rode in the back seat of a Chevy Impala on a road trip with Joann’s parents, John and Mary Metzler....
by MarianBeaman | Jun 3, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Travel, Uncategorized
Yes, imagine two Mennonite girls tripping across the country . . . In a blue-gray 1958 Chevy Impala sedan With a chauffeur and navigator Through 47 states + Mexico Five weeks in 1964: July 18 – August 24 My Travel Partners: The Metzlers, whom I call Aunt and Uncle,...