I always suspected my friend Moise, the Amish Bishop and farmer up the road, was a genius at business, but now I know it. I spent some time with Moise at his farm yesterday, he’s been busy, and I’ve been busy; it was nice to have some time and catch up.

As always, I was astonished by this man’s energy, creativity, and drive. His farm, an abandoned and neglected farm pasture, feels more and more like a booming crafts and farm center. He’s got a dozen things going, and they are all successful.

I’m not sure I can even remember what Moise has been doing.

He is selling polywood (recycled wood) chairs – $350 apiece – tool and gardening sheds, baked goods, and jewelry (vegetables and fruit start going on sale next week). He’s built and opened a harness and tackle center for horse gear and a chicken house and sold more than 5o goats this year.

He plans to raise and sell more. And he’s constantly scouring properties and scouting farms that might suit his children or grandchildren. He’s already moved several of them here; the Amish are now a community within a community.

It was a huge risk for Moise to move her knowing no one and nothing about our town. He trusted his instincts, and they were good ones. It’s the grand old American story – set out for the unknown and prosper.

He and his son John also run a lumber company on the farm. I can’t wait to see what else he tries; he never seems to stop.

His sheds are beautifully crafted and cost thousands of dollars. His chairs are beautiful. His vegetable stand, one of the most popular in the area, will open fully in a couple of weeks; his pies, donuts, jellies, pies, bracelets and necklaces, and cookies routinely sell out as quickly as they are made.

Moise is a born entrepreneur. I was impressed and amazed at what he has done, what he has built, and how his farm has grown and prospered. His Adirondack chairs are selling so rapidly that he’s ordered more plywood and plans to put even more out front where they can be seen.

His navigation system for watering his crops is the most advanced and efficient I’ve ever seen.

Moise never stops thinking, working, and sticking his neck out. Every gamble he’s made has been a winning one. And I’ve never seen a human being work as hard as he does continuously. I still stop by to thumb wrestle his daughter. Delilah is whooping my ass.

I’m not sure how Moise knew about all my surgeries, but he did, and he had a lot of questions to ask me. It is extremely rare to see him be still for a half hour.

We became friends because we could talk as I drove him around, but having a half hour to talk to him uninterrupted has become difficult. I am exhausted just looking at him. But we have a real connection, and I felt it yesterday.

We’ve been chiefly waving at one another these past few months and during the winter, so it was nice to see him and catch up. We both really wanted to talk to one another.

He’s a remarkable human being,  and he has positively and single-handedly changed the atmosphere of our   small town. He and his family move all over the county, fixing barns, chopping wood, and repairing rooftops.

I asked him if he would like me to post pictures of his chairs, and he said yes, that would be fine. It was good to see Moise again and just be able to sit down and talk with him. His gamble to leave his known life and move to her was a big one but was successful beyond even his dreams.

It will probably be a while before we get to talk so freely and easily again. I’ll look forward to it.