Outen The Lights

The switchplate cover that is on the main light switch in the barn is an interesting one with some history.  Each morning before daylight when I switch the lights on, I reach in through the gate, having to feel around until I locate it in the dark, and flip the switch on.  Over the years, most of the coloring has been worn off.  The Pennsylvania tulips originally were red and green and yellow.

It is at the very least 40-something years old.  When I was just a boy, we took a family vacation all the way up the east coast to the Pennsylvania Dutch country.  We drove through and saw the Amish riding in their buggies being pulled by a horse.  If I'm not mistaken, while touring the Amish country in Lancaster County, we purchased the above switch plate as a souvenir and I ended up inheriting it from my grandmother.  I promptly installed it in our barn.  The Amish people have always interested me.  I like their simplicity, devotion, and tight family units.

We can always tell when someone is in our barn out back because we can see the lights through the two barn windows that face north.  "Outen the Light" is from the Pennsylvania Dutch English dialect and simply means, "Turn out the Light."  Despite the admonition on the Amish switch plate, sometimes I forget to "outen the light" after walking back to the house with a bucket of milk.  Fortunately, you might say, the way we get electricity to the barn is by using 3 long extension cords.  What started as a temporary (and cheap) way to run electricity, has lasted for about 7 years now!  This electrical arrangement allows me on those forgetful days to "outen the light" by pulling the extension cord out of the GFCI outlet in the garage.