{"id":8601,"date":"2013-03-08T18:53:47","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T23:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/?p=8601"},"modified":"2013-03-08T18:53:47","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T23:53:47","slug":"the-road-to-ancient-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/?p=8601","title":{"rendered":"The Road to Ancient Lands\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

photo-2-small.JPG<\/a><\/p>\n

Time passing as men pass who never will come back again\u2026
\nAnd leaving us\u2026with only this \u2013 Knowing that this earth,
\nthis time, this life are stranger than a dream\u2026<\/p>\n

—Thomas Wolfe
\n_______________<\/p>\n

The email popped in one day last summer, sometime in early July. From a reader. Which was not at all unusual, and still isn\u2019t. I\u2019ve heard from people from a lot of different places. Mostly from this country, of course. But also from far places like China, Japan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia, Mexico, and several European countries. From people who downloaded my book on the internet, and wrote to tell me about it. This message was a little different, though. It was a bit longer than most. And, more startlingly, it was from a professor in Germany.<\/p>\n

Her name was Dr. Sabrina V\u00f6lz, and she taught at Leuphana Universit\u00e4t in L\u00fcneburg, way up north. She had read the book and was touched by my story, she wrote. And she was intrigued by the literary aspect of it. She told me a bit about herself. She teaches English and North American Studies, teaching those who will teach English. And she went on. In her academic research, she focused on ethnic literature and culture in North America, and the American short story.<\/p>\n

Wow, I thought. Now that\u2019s a small world, right there. A professor in Germany read my book. A professor. And she wrote to tell me. How cool is that? She wasn\u2019t done there, though. The email went on.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d like to interview me, she wrote, if I\u2019d be willing. Either by email or in person. She was traveling to New York City in August with her husband and children. Would it be possible to meet to talk, if she came to Lancaster County? She didn\u2019t want to infringe, but she really would like to use the interview to teach a seminar there at the University. And maybe write an article to be published, too. What did I think? Would it be possible to meet?<\/p>\n

Well, yeah, I thought. Sure it\u2019s possible. It\u2019s remarkable, too. An email from a professor in Germany who had read my book. And she wanted to interview me. Of course I would. I get two or three interview requests a month, mostly from students writing research papers. From grade school to post-graduate level. Mostly the interviews are done by email, although once in a while I\u2019ll give someone half an hour of my time of an evening on the phone. I have never turned anyone down. I\u2019m not out there looking to get interviewed but if you have a legitimate reason to ask, I\u2019m always honored. And I\u2019m not just saying that. I really am. But Dr. V\u00f6lz wasn\u2019t quite done, yet. The email went on.<\/p>\n

I read on your blog where you travel some to give book talks, she wrote. It would be great if you\u2019d consider coming to Germany. I could easily get you booked at my University and a few others in the surrounding area. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll travel that far, though. And I thought to myself. Germany? Travel to Germany? Fat chance I\u2019ll ever do that. It would be wild, though. But I\u2019m sure the cost would be way out there prohibitive. Plus, I\u2019d have to take time off work. And that\u2019s what I told her in my response. Sure, I\u2019ll talk to you when you\u2019re traveling through. I\u2019d be honored. I have some Amish friends I could introduce you to, if they\u2019re home that day, that is. I’ll find out. But traveling over to talk at your University? That\u2019s a little far-fetched. I\u2019m pretty happy right here where I am.<\/p>\n

We emailed back and forth a few more times. From the start, she insisted that I call her Sabrina, not Dr. V\u00f6lz, as I had addressed the first message. OK, if you insist, I said. I\u2019m always hesitant to do that, to not recognize a degree someone has worked hard for. And one Saturday afternoon in late August, we met at The Back Page, a nice little pub in Leola. I got there first and waited by my truck. And soon enough, a little mini van pulled in and parked. A tall man unwound himself from the driver\u2019s side. Sabrina got out of the passenger\u2019s side and walked up to me, smiling. We shook hands and she introduced me to her husband, Hans-J\u00fcrgen and their two school-aged children, Maximilian and Emily. After chatting a few minutes and posing for a pic, Sabrina and I walked into the pub while her husband and children left to cruise the area for an hour or so and see some sights. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nWith Dr. Sabrina V\u00f6lz.<\/p>\n

We got along quite well from the first moment. Just chatted along. She asked about the book, how it came to be. And I told her. My blog brought it to me. After a bit, she set up her little recorder on the table, and off we went, for the official interview. Which used to make me a little skittish, early on, having a recorder sitting there latching onto your every word. But it doesn\u2019t anymore. You have to relax and be yourself. Speak what you know, what you believe, what\u2019s in your heart. Sure, you might stumble and say something that doesn\u2019t come out right. But if you do, you can correct yourself. That\u2019ll be recorded too, I figure. <\/p>\n

In about an hour, we were done. Sabrina handed me her hard copy of the book and I signed it. She had a real hard copy, not the electronic version. I was surprised and pleased, not that there\u2019s anything wrong with any version. But still, a real book is a real book, I\u2019ve always felt. Something that you can take and hold in your hands. I like that. And we chatted again for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d she said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t kidding when I asked if you would come to speak at the University. I think I could get the funding to bring you over. But you didn\u2019t seem that interested. Would you consider it, if I can get you over there?\u201d<\/p>\n

And I laughed. Look, I said. I\u2019m very content where I am. But if you get funding for the trip, of course I would come. I\u2019d be stupid not to. I just would never expect such a thing. I mean, what chance is there of that happening? But I\u2019ll come. Oh, yeah, I\u2019ll come. I\u2019ve never been to Europe. Never. If you get it done, get me over there to talk about my book at a few Universities, I could even boast that I\u2019m an international lecturer. That’s a joke, that last thing I said, there. <\/p>\n

She laughed, too. \u201cYou might be surprised,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve done it before, brought an author over to speak. And your story is unique enough that I think it might work. I\u2019m going to try when I get back home. I\u2019ll start filling out the applications. I actually think there\u2019s a pretty good chance. I\u2019ll keep you updated.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s great, I said. I really appreciate your confidence, and that you think my book is worth all that effort. But I won\u2019t look for anything until I see it coming.<\/p>\n

Her family had returned, and they all followed me the few miles to the home of my Amish friends. I had asked them, a few weeks before. Would you like to meet some folks from Germany? They\u2019ll be here, and I know they\u2019d sure love to meet some real Amish people. I\u2019d love to bring them over. And my friends said what they usually say to my off-the-wall requests. Bring them on. We\u2019ll make coffee. <\/p>\n

We arrived, and were genuinely welcomed, as I knew we\u2019d be. My friends invited us into their home, and we sat around the kitchen table, talking and drinking coffee and lemonade and eating pretzels and cheese and cookies. I had planned on staying only a few minutes, but we all got along so well that before we knew it, more than an hour had passed. Sabrina and her family told us what it was like, to live in northern Germany. The customs, how things went, the cost of a house. And my friends told them how it was to live as Amish in Lancaster County. You can\u2019t get all that much said in a little over an hour. But we made the most of the time we had. And we all enjoyed the company of each other. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe V\u00f6lz family at the table of my Amish friends.
\nSabrina is signing the guest book.<\/p>\n

They left then, heading out to their next stop. And I thought back to that day more than a few times, how cool it was, to have someone like Sabrina and her family show up to meet me and my friends. And sure enough, a week or three later, here comes another email. <\/p>\n

Thanks for your hospitality, she wrote. We all enjoyed meeting your friends very much. And thanks for interviewing with me. Now, here\u2019s the info I\u2019ll need to fill out that application. Full name, address, and so forth. I sent her what she asked for. And life just went on, as it does. I stayed busy living it. <\/p>\n

A week or two later, she emailed that she had submitted the application. Keep your fingers crossed. I\u2019m hopeful, she wrote. Yes, yes, I wrote back. It would be hugely exciting, but don\u2019t worry if it doesn\u2019t work out. I expect nothing. And there\u2019s where things rested for a while. <\/p>\n

And then, right at two months ago in early January, here comes another email. A very happy one. She got the funding, Sabrina wrote. It came through. The trip was on. All expenses paid. A place to stay. And three book talks at three different places, plus a stipend for each talk, yet. I had half believed her earlier, when she told me she had a good shot at getting it through. But still, there\u2019s nothing like seeing it right in front of you on your computer screen. <\/p>\n

And I just sat there at my desk at work and stared at her message. She had really done it. I was going to Germany. I have never been to Europe. Never. Which probably makes me a hick to some people. But it was never that high on my bucket list. Sure, I always figured it would all work out someday, somehow, that I\u2019d get there. But I\u2019d never fretted much about it, exactly how it would happen. It was just one of those things you know. And now the book was taking me. It took a bit, to absorb the enormity of all that. <\/p>\n

I never bother my friends in the publishing world much. Never have, never will. Those people live in a world so far removed from mine that sometimes I think it\u2019s another planet (a good planet, just not the one I’m on). But that day, I wrote a little note and sent it to my agent and a couple of my good friends at Tyndale. Hey, I want to share this joy with you. Look what\u2019s happening. The book\u2019s taking me to Germany. I\u2019m speaking at a University. In Germany. I\u2019ve never even been to Europe. Now the book\u2019s taking me. How wild is that? And they all wrote back. It\u2019s quite wild indeed. Congratulations.<\/p>\n

I had another thing on my mind, though, and wrote back to Sabrina. Thanks very much. This is unbelievable. Now, let me ask this. Would it be possible to get my return ticket a week later than my stay in Germany? I\u2019d like to travel on over to Switzerland on my own, to check out the areas my Anabaptist ancestors came from. Sabrina answered immediately. No, that should not be a problem. <\/p>\n

And we worked out the schedule. I\u2019ll be leaving in early May, returning in mid May. The first week, I will be with Sabrina and her family and colleagues. I\u2019ll be speaking at the University and a few other locations. I think I’m speaking in a couple of classes Sabrina teaches. And maybe at a high school. I\u2019m not exactly sure of the schedule at this point. Whatever is lined up for me will be fine. And right now, I\u2019m not nervous about any of it, because I haven\u2019t thought about it much. I will, though, as the time gets closer. Things like, how do you address a group whose primary language is not English? I think most people at the University speak and understand English. Should I speak slower? And I wonder if anyone over there would understand my PA Dutch. <\/p>\n

The next weekend, I\u2019ll take the train to Switzerland. I haven\u2019t really figured out where all I\u2019ll be going, yet. Definitely I want to see some sites that are historically significant to the Amish and Mennonites, like where Felix Manz<\/a> was drowned. And maybe some castles with dudgeons. I want to check it all out, so see the spots where all that terrifying stuff happened that I saw and read in the Martyr\u2019s Mirror<\/em> as a child. I want to walk where my forefathers walked, hundreds of years ago. And I want to see the ground on which they stood when the state condemned and murdered them. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been around long enough to know that nothing happens until it happens. Despite all the best laid plans, tomorrow is promised no one. I always try to keep in mind, as something big like this approaches, that something could go wrong. It just could. Mom could leave us the day I\u2019m scheduled to fly over. It could be anything. But last week, Sabrina sent my eTicket, so we\u2019re that far along. That\u2019s when I figured it\u2019s safe to write the story here on my blog. The story of how it all came down so far. <\/p>\n

And yeah, I\u2019m flying. Got no other option. The TSA goons are gonna get their paws on me. I\u2019ll have to grit my teeth and take it. When it comes to flying, I\u2019ve always had an exception for funerals, emergencies, or something really big. I figure this is something really big. <\/p>\n

I still haven\u2019t fully absorbed it all, that this trip is really happening. I won\u2019t, until the day gets a lot closer. A week out, I\u2019ll start freaking for real. This is uncharted terrain for me, a huge adventure. And yes, it is just flat out wild, the whole thing. Another wild strange stop on a wild and strange and beautiful road. <\/p>\n

And I look at it all and wonder. What were the chances that a person in Germany would pick up my book and read it, a person like Dr. Sabrina V\u00f6lz, who had the clout and the connections to do what she did to get me over there? I\u2019d say they were extremely remote, if you look at random chance alone. Maybe it was more than that. I don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n

I am proud of the book, proud of the accomplishment of actually getting it written and having it published. I\u2019m proud of all it has been and all the good things that have flowed from it. But still, I am who I am. A guy just walking along, trying to describe as best I can the world around me and the things I have seen and lived. And all I know is that I walk forward into this journey as I\u2019ve tried to walk, these past few years. With joy and with thanksgiving, but mostly with a grateful heart. That\u2019s the one thing that\u2019s kept my head half straight, this last while. Simple gratitude to God for the host of astonishing blessings He has poured into my life. And continues to.<\/p>\n

One of these days, this little ride that is the book will end. I\u2019ll look around, a bit startled, probably. Where am I? What just happened? I might have to pinch myself to make sure it wasn\u2019t all one long, beautiful dream. And then I\u2019ll get off and go right back to being who I was before. Just with a little more world experience. <\/p>\n

It’s been quite a ride. Maybe someday I’ll have to do it all over again. <\/p>\n

**********************************************************<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a little issue I\u2019ve been wanting to throw out there for a while, but just never got done. I mentioned a few blogs back that the half-millionth hit was coming right up. It came a little over a week later. A shining and proud moment. I snapped a pic of the screen with the number. 500,000 even. I never wrote for the numbers, but that was a very cool milestone for me.<\/p>\n

Anyway, in the past couple of years, I have gotten a half dozen or so random emails from advertising companies. Hey, they say. We notice you\u2019re getting some nice traffic on your blog. Would you consider running some ads? We\u2019d love to sign you up. I always ignored those messages. It just didn\u2019t seem important. <\/p>\n

But lately, some of my geeky friends have told me the same thing. Why not run some banner ads, there on the left side of the screen? Or both sides? It\u2019s completely empty space. People are used to seeing ads when they read online. You could make a few bucks. And I told them. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s never been important to me. All I want is a place to write my stuff. I suppose it\u2019s not a big deal, one way or the other. But I still couldn\u2019t quite bring myself to give anyone the go-ahead. <\/p>\n

It all boils down to this, money wise. I suppose I\u2019d earn a few dollars a month. Enough, maybe, for food and beer and drinks for my garage party every summer. Those are very important things. But they won’t break the bank, either way. Nice money to have. Won’t miss it much if I don’t. <\/p>\n

And I thought, I\u2019ll just ask my readers. This is where I’m writing for now, and will be for a while. Would you mind if I ran ads along the left side of the blog? Or both sides? Yes? No? Why? Why not? Give me some feedback. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019ll keep a tally of votes and go with that, or anything. But I\u2019ll sure take into consideration what you have to say. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time passing as men pass who never will come back again\u2026 And leaving us\u2026with only this \u2013 Knowing that this earth, this time, this life are stranger than a dream\u2026 —Thomas Wolfe _______________ The email popped in one day last summer, sometime in early July. From a reader. Which was not at all unusual, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8601"}],"version-history":[{"count":189,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8793,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8601\/revisions\/8793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irawagler.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}