Buckwheat to Bruderhof

We began our weekend with a quick trip to Cooper's Rock while the kids were still in school.



Later that night, we finally hit the Preston County Buckwheat Festival this weekend in Kingwood. The area is famous for the buckwheat they planted as an insurance crop to get them through when others would fail. As with most festivals, the majority of it has devolved into a spectacle of over-priced cheap stuffed animals and crafts hocked by greasy carnies, but they have still maintained some feel of an old county fair. There were livestock shows, arts and crafts competitions, awards for produce and the best quilts. So it was worth a trip. The buckwheat cakes were served in a giant community hall with people running around waiting on you. We had a whole troop of boys from a local military academy stopping at our table every 30 seconds asking if the food was alright and if they could get us anything. Definitely the best fair table service we have ever experienced.









The highlight of the festival was the lumberjack show. These guys did rapid chainsaw sculpting, axe throwing, two-man cross-cut speed sawing and log rolling.



Phil here busted out roller skates at the end and stood on the log as the other guy rolled it back and forth. He was the 9 time world champion log roller back when he was younger.



Gretchen thought he was number 1. On the ride home, a windy West Virginia road, Gretchen got sufficiently car sick to blow her dinner all over the back seat, which was a fragrant treat for all of us.



Oh well, at least we got to spend $9 for the kids to spend 30 seconds going around a tiny track on this fiberglass dragon. (Moral of the story, don't promise your kids a ride until you check the prices).

Saturday, we headed up to Farmington, PA where we had been invited to a fall festival at the "Community." They are a group of people who basically live the law of consecration, having all things in common and possessing no money of their own. They have a house near us in Morgantown where they house students becoming doctors and dentists to serve their communities. We met them there and they have become good friends. They are very inspirational in the simple way they lead their lives. All their children are very polite and social. They work very hard and always seem happy. Irene, one of the ladies that formerly lived in Morgantown, found us right away and showed us around the place.



The property is huge with a bunch of multiple family dwellings where they have separate family rooms but share common kitchens. They have a huge school for K-8 after which the kids go to public high school. They support themselves by making furniture for daycares and preschools and hand carving fancy signs for businesses. They have large vegetable gardens and are very self sufficient.







They are really special people who I think we would do well to emulate.