I was in the shower, and Maria came in and said, “Moise is here.” She said he was happy to wait for me; he needed me to go online and help him buy some pie and donut boxes.

I looked out the bathroom window and found a horse and buggy cart ties up to the old horse ring on the barn. I hurried to get dressed and go outside, and Mosie was out in the pasture talking sheep and fences with Maria.

He loves talking fences, I wish I knew more about them.

We came inside to my study, and he pulled up a chair behind me, and we went on Amazon to see how much the pie and donut boxes cost. Shopping with Mosie is different; he is careful, thorough, and well informed about the cost of things.

I know nothing about the cost of these things, but the Amazon prices struck me as on the high side. Using the Internet shopping skills I honed during my Mansion and refugee work, I found a restaurant supply store called WebRestaurant; we could get twice as many boxes for half the price we saw on Amazon.

We also looked for baking stands and oven pans posts for buns and donuts.

The Amish can’t have computers, so Mosie will come here when he needs to order things online. Maria tried to give his horse an alfalfa cookie, but the horse seemed confused and just spat it out. I don’t think they do treats at Mosie’s farm.

Mosie is keen on getting sheep and goats next year; we also went online to look at the cost of fencing.

I’ve ordered the stuff to be shipped here, and I’ll bring it up to the Miller farm, and Mosie will pay for it then. Mosie and the Amish are well known for being honest and paying their bills exactly on time.

As always, we had fun. We had to call Maria to help us calculate the cost per item, which is important to Mosie. He likes talking with Maria, especially about farm stuff.

But it was draining also, and took a lot of concentration and focus to get the prices Moise was willing to pay.

I told Mosie a lot of my readers were wondering if they would ever get to see his face, and I told them no, not likely. “Besides,” I said, “I told them they would be disappointed, you are even uglier than me.”

He laughed and slapped his knee.

I got into it, and we scoured for the best prices and we insisted on free shipping. The first order, for a few hundred donut boxes, is coming Monday. The second, for 1,000 pie boxes for $178, is coming a day or so later.

We were both pleased with the very good prices we found. The Mansion and Bishop Maginn High School have done me well.

He always asked me to look at my blog and see what I have been writing, and we have a good time reading the stories together. He always asks me to print some posts out so he can show his children.

I think Mosie likes being written about, as long as I don’t take photos of faces. I explained once that he was welcome to see the posts, but not to change them, unless there were factual errors.

He said he would never think to tell me what to write. Moise has an ingrained honesty I relate to. He is friendly, open, and thoughtful. He went to great lengths to make sure I understood I would be paid promptly for ordering and paying for these goods.

I told him I’m not worried about it. I have no doubt he will pay me back.

I love how life here evolves.  There is something different happening all the time on this farm. I love seeing a horse and carriage tied up to our barn, using the very horse rings the people who built the farm used almost two centuries ago.

Moise invited me to come back this afternoon if it isn’t raining, he will be plowing. I’m bringing some Baby Sitter graphic novels for his daughters and some Boxcar books for the boys (the girls love those as well, they switch back and forth.)

Once again, I told Maria I am surprised at our connection and the comfort level between us. I guess I don’t need to understand it, just enjoy it.

“I told Barbara that Jon would be a good person to help me find the boxes and supplies online,” Moise said.

Why I asked, do you think that?

“Because you like to help people, and we need help doing this.”

Maria surprised me by telling me she thought the two of us were very much alike. “You’re both ambitious,” she said, “and are direct and like to get things done. You also seem to have the same sense of humor.”

I told Maria I didn’t think I was ambitious, and she laughed so hard she almost spit out her toast.