I grew up in the Northeast, and when I was young, I spent a lot of time on my grandmother's farm in rural Pennsylvania. Many of the neighbors were Amish, and it was not uncommon to see horse-drawn buggies passing the house. At the time, my curiosity about the local Amish (Or "Pennsylvania Dutch," as we called them) was limited to wondering how anyone could stand to be dressed in itchy head-to-toe wool in the summer heat. By the time I did become curious, there were no local Amish to talk to, and most of the available information was limited to dry descriptions of Anabaptist creeds or farming techniques. Recently, however, the Amish have been featured in popular fiction and television programs, especially in relation to the coming of age rite known as Rumspringa, wherein Amish teens are given more or less free reign to sample the outside world before becoming baptised and settling into the austere Amish community for good.

Internet columnist/podcaster Tom Binnal has a fascinating interview with Tom Shachtman, author of the book Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish, who discusses the rite and many little known facts about Amish culture.