KENTUCKY - Shake, shake, shake...

In the early nineteenth century, a group of religiously inclined Americans decided that the second coming of Jesus had, in fact, already occured and that rather than living in the heady heights of their new hard fought for democracy, they should head off into the countryside and build themselves a utopia to escape the millennium of trauma which was bound to follow. Off they went, building themselves villages of mighty sizes where men and women would live separate lives but in fellowship. They shunned family life and industry to become self sufficent and developed a form of worship which involved some singing, dancing and a lot of unusual shaking. Thus were born: the Shakers. Needless to say, with a name like that and an historical re-enactment village just a few hours down the road, you'd have had to fight to keep Merry and I out of there.


A typical Shaker bedroom. Note the incredible functionnality of the design. Spartan beds and dressers, and the hooks all around every room to hang things on when they're not being used. Also note the cat, which may or may not subscribe to Shaker teachings. We didn't think to ask.

The guides at the Shaker Village we visited on Pleasant Hill, Lexington, went out of their way to assure us that Shakerism wasn't a cult. In fact, the religious side of their beliefs barely gets a look in on the displays around the lovingly recreated village. Funnily enough, for a group so keen on escaping the modern world and going back to an older way of life, the village emphasises how the Shakers were thoroughly progressive sorts of people. Ever used a flat broom before? The Shakers invented that one. Circular saw? Their's as well. And so was the tune for Lord of the Dance (which you've never truly heard until a man in costume is singing it at the top of his lungs to the pair of you, even though you're the only two people who turned up for the singing recital) As well as being dab hand inventers and communal livers, the Shakers were also rather efficent Capitalists as well. Realising they were making good quality products and attracting interest from local travellers, they began selling their wares and making a fair bit of money. (Kind of ironic given the free market was exactly the sort of thing you'd have thought they were trying to escape...)


Shaker architecture: symmetrical. Straight lines. Two doors. One for men and one for women, you understand.

It's not entirely clear from Pleasant Hill and all the success stories why the movement diminished. I might hazard a guess, though, that the enforced celibacy and no marriage (married couples who joined the order would live apart for the rest of their lives. Rather masochistic, when you think about it) probably didn't help when it came to passing on these wonderous achivements to the next generation. Thank goodness for historical re-enactments. Pleasant Hill has around thirty Shaker buildings, but apparently the original site hosted over two hundred and housed four hundred people. Gotta say: the thought of all those people in one room shaking in unison makes me feel a little weird.


Gardening Shaker style.

So: baseball. Having somehow managed to be in the States half a dozen times and not gone to a game, Merry insisted I go to one on this occassion. Now I may not know who the Cincinnati Reds or the San Fransisco Giants are but I *do* know that the Reds' Ken Griffey Jr. was once on The Simpsons ("Wow, it's like there's a party in my mouth, and everyone's invited.") and was, therefore, worthy of my support.


Baseball. It's a game with bases. And balls. And bats. So why not "Bat and Baseball", eh?

Ken didn't fail me: one home run was enough to see the Reds through a rather dull match which did nothing to shake my deep rooted suspisions that baseball is actually just a *teensy* bit dull. Like being back at summer camp, though, there are enough silly chants and random harassed looking people being beamed onto the giant screens to make the whole thing immensly enjoyable. And, you know what? There might even have been just a little bit of shaking going on in the stadium, as well.


For reference: items which the Cincinnati Reds fear may be used in potentiol terroist attacks. I wish the list were longer as, you can see from the bottom right, it was beginning to get delightfully silly.