Writer's Workshop: A Vacation to Remember

Prompt #1: A Vacation to Remember


Rumspringa is a Pennsylvania German term which means "running around", and it is used to describe a period of time for Amish youth from the age of 16 until they decide to be baptized into the Amish church or to leave the church and the Amish way of life forever.  During this time, the teenagers can pretty much do whatever they want in order to ensure that when they decide to become baptized, they are making the most informed decision possible.


Recently we watched a documentary entitled "The Devil's Playground" which told the stories of several such teens and their experiences.  It's fascinating and at times downright shocking to see what some of these kids will get into during their "time off".


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This past weekend, Rob and I took a short trip to Amish country and stayed at a bed & breakfast just outside of Lancaster, PA.


It was a fantastic mini-vacation.  We relaxed for the sake of relaxing.  On Saturday we actually took a nap.  Yes.  A nap.  For, like, 3 hours.  Because we could.  That's one thing we never feel like we can attempt when we go to Disneyworld, for sure - everything's scheduled, there's always something more to do, you can maybe take a quick snooze if you play your cards right.  But in Amish country? Zzzzz....Bliss.


We had some really important, probing conversations, such as "What would happen if the government banned all fast food restaurants?".  We discovered a quaint little place called "Pancake Farm" and wondered if they, in fact, grew pancakes there.  Alas, we never found out, since they are closed on Sunday.


Most importantly, we did something we hadn't done in a while.  We did it again and again throughout the entire weekend.  Seriously, we were unstoppable.


We laughed.  


We laughed at everything.  We were silly, we were goofy.  Everything was funny to us.


One of our biggest running jokes focused on rumspringa.  We decided that we would just wreak havoc all over the place and shout "Ruuuuumspringaaaa!" at the top of our lungs while doing so.  And we came up with all sorts of crazy scenarios that sent us into fits of hysterical laughter. 


Oh, did I rear-end you because you cut me off in the parking lot? Rumspringa!


Did I tell you off because you're being all chatty and annoying while I'm trying to eat breakfast which you forced me to get out of bed at 8 AM for, B&B owner? Rumspringa!


Did I punch your lights out for walking back and forth, repeatedly, in the room above me? On a hardwood floor? Wearing heels? At 7:00 in the morning? Rumspringa!


I think we even decided to legally change our last name to Rumspringa.


And no.  We hadn't touched a drop.  It was just one of those magical times when you're drunk on laughter and silliness and the simple joy of being together.


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We were at my favorite Amish smorgasbord on Saturday night.  I love the place.  It is Heaven to me.  Simple, homecooked food prepared expertly by people who know how to fry a piece of chicken.  If I could marry a restaurant, this would be the place.


The only drawback for me is sharing a long table with a bunch of strangers, as the food is served family-style on big platters.  I don't mind eating with my entire family or a big group of friends.  It's when I have to sit with strangers that I feel uncomfortable.  And besides, who wants to look like a pig at one of these places? My family and friends already know I'm a pig...er...enthusiastic over good food.  But here, we all have to "share" and "be polite".  Psssh.


Anyway, we were seated first and wondered who we would be sharing our table with.  Soon another couple joined us.  And I knew from the get-go, just by hearing the way the wife talked about their numerous past experiences here, that they could very well foil my plans for gluttonous overindulgence.  I didn't want to have to break any fingers in pursuit of that extra slice of pie (seriously, I am so hardcore - I only eat there, like, once every 3 or 4 years).


In my distress, I texted Rob from across the table.  Throwdown


His reply?  RUMSPRINGA!!!!

Oh, homemade bread and apple butter.  You complete me.

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Rob pointed out something to me last night.  Evidently our trip made a lasting impression with him and he's been thinking back on it quite a bit. 


To him, it symbolized that apart from all the stress we've been through in the past year, all the depression and anxiety and general insanity we've weathered...we still have "It".  It's still there.  We may not be able to tap into it as much as we would like, but the reason we're together in the first place stands strong. 


We were able to shed all of that excess baggage for a couple of days and get back to the basics of our marriage and our friendship.  We cut loose.  We lived without a schedule.  We overate (<-- understatement) and threw all caution to the wind.  And then we went back to our "real life" together, with a fresh point of view and the determination to tap into that silly side of ourselves more often.


It was a very important mini-vacation.


It was our rumspringa.