Reading Abbey’s Desert Solitaire this evening as vehicular traffic roared outside my window on I-81, the irony was formidable. In 36 hours I had gone from sable surreys driven by bearded men with their women in skirts and Mennonite haubes beside them to semi-trucks with Case, Caterpillar, and John Deere painted on their hauling trailers.

After a day spent with fellow soldiers in the Lancaster County, PA region recently, I was able to drive some local roads. The land seemed to summon my soul. Not just the land, but the Mennonite communities that stewarded it.

The rolling hills, the surreys, the fields of corn, and orchards of apples. On and on they rolled. The soil was black and pungent. A richness as beautiful as woman.

Usufructuaries.

Stewardship=wisdom. Salute to these citizens.