In the previous post, I mentioned the possibility of “coincidence or Karma” influencing some of our decisions. We were initially planning a “Road Trip 2025.” How that became “Road Trip 2024” might be a matter of coincidence or Karma.

My uncle was a dairy farmer. I blame him for my interest and love of all things cow. As a kid, I “helped” put up hay bales (rode on the baler), stood in the silo while it rained silage, helped with the milking… Our only difference was that he loved to watch horse pulling at fairs. I prefer ox draws. The competition is fun, but I just enjoy watching a good team being driven by a skilled teamster. Somewhere along the way, I realized I’d love to be “in the pit” and closer to the oxen.

For the uninitiated, an ox (singular) is a bovine trained and used as a draft animal. They are usually castrated bulls and fairly docile and safe to work with and are best trained starting as calves. The vocabulary is potentially confusing. In simple terms, oxen are castrated mature males. Cows are mature females that have been bred.

“The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo, the other milk.”

Ogden Nash

I stumbled on to the Tillers International Website and learned they offer workshops (“hands on”) teaching how to train and drive oxen. It took some rationalizing, but I signed up, at first thinking it might be one of the most useless things I’ve done. It didn’t take long for this to morph into Road Trip 2024–visiting simplicity and tradition. The trip will include some time with Amish Communities and serve as research for a book on hope to write.

For a preview of “the show,” I can offer this video of a previous workshop held in June, 2024.

We’ll also spend a week in Holmes County, Ohio where the Amish flourish, visit a young Mennonite Friend in Indiana, and see some Amish friends in Pennysylvania. Three to get ready!