Hutchinson Scenes

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know I have a fascination with road signs in various places. They really are indicative of an area. A memorable one was the "Hills and Curves - Next 63 Miles" along Highway 1 in California. And, a more recent favorite, posted in the New Mexico materials, of the little graphic of the car with rocks falling onto it. That one could have been in California too, come to think of it.

Well, I was thinking... gosh... we don't have anything distinctive in the way of road signs along here. Then one day I was driving to Wichita and had just gone through Yoder and popped up onto 96. Yoder is an Amish community and on Highway 96 near there are the road signs showing "buggy crossing." It was one of those moments of clarity about how we really do take our immediate surroundings for granted.

One of the things that's interesting about living in Hutchinson is every once in awhile you'll see a buggy parked at Walmart or somewhere else. The other day I had to go to the courthouse to get a new car title and as I was headed back home, I saw this buggy parked at a shopping area. I swung in to the parking lot to snap a photo with the water tower in the background. I should have taken one of the courthouse, too. We have a beautiful art deco courthouse. I'll pop one of those up soon.

Yoder is only about five miles from Hutchinson so this is the closest "big town" to shop in. The Amish believe that to have a photo of their faces taken would be a graven image and therefore idolatry. That's why you often see photos from the back. There was an elderly gentleman in this buggy, waiting for someone I guess, but I didn't want to intrude on him so snapped the photo so he was not in it.