Fellow laborers: David Kline, Amish bishop and naturalist

I was excited to discover via The Amish Way that there is an Amish bishop in Ohio named David Kline who is also a published author. His books are:

• Round of a Country Year
• Great Possessions
• Scratching the Woodchuck
• Letters from Larksong

Great Possessions is available through my library and is introduced by (drumroll) Wendell Berry. I’ve just started reading it. A sample:

Probably the greatest difference between Amish farming and agribusiness is the supportive community life we have. Let me give an example. When we cut our wheat in early summer (we cut about half of a thirteen-acre field in one day), the whole family, after the evening milking, went shocking. It was one of those clear, cool June evenings. Simply perfect. Tim, our eighteen-year-old son, and I each took a row while my wife, Elsie, and ten-year-old son, Michael, took another one. Two of our daughters, Kristine, sixteen, and Ann, twelve, took the fourth row. Eight-year-old Emily carried the water jug. Row by row we worked our way across the field, the girls talking and giggling while they worked and Michael explaining in excited detail some project he had under way in the shop. When we reached the top of the hill we stood together and watched the sun slip behind a brilliant magenta-colored cloud and then sink beneath the horizon. From far to the south came the mellow whistle of an upland sandpiper. Tim said, to no one in particular, “Shocking together with the family is fun.” He spoke for all of us. Then we heard voices from the next hill and saw three neighbors shocking toward us from the far end of the field. One of the girls excitedly remarked, “Seven rows at a time. That is speed.” Soon all the bundles were set up in shocks and everyone came along to the house for ice cream and visiting.

Kline was also interviewed at a Berry Center event last year.