Amishman Amos Miller, of Middlebury, Indiana, is the ticket taker at the carousel on the top floor of the Davis Mercantile building in Shipshewana, Ind. Miller will welcome his 8 children and 38 grandchildren home for Christmas, where they will do a lot of singing and eating.

SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. — On a cold December night outside the Shipshewana Furniture store, a towering imitation Christmas tree is decorated with sparkling blue-green lights. Then comes a hurried clip-clop, and a shuddering rattle. A heavy black Amish buggy and its horse rumble past, cast in sharp silhouette against the shimmering Christmas tree.

It is a scene that is in this world, but not of it.

It is a scene you will see almost nowhere else.

It is Amish Christmas.

While Shipshewana relies on 1.2 million tourists a year and cultivates an image of a classic Christmas town, what it wants for us and what its residents plan for themselves are two different things.

Amish Christmas is about dialing down, not up.

Food. Singing. Family. A day off. That’s about it.

"What I look forward to most is having the family come," says Amos Miller, a local Amish man with eight children and 38 grandchildren — all of them living close by except for one daughter who moved a shocking 100 miles away.

Lights, decorations, fancy presents, trees and even religious services are not part of the Amish holiday.

"We don’t do like that," he says, his face clear and smooth, his small beard and plain, pressed clothes speaking of an orderly life. "But a lot of Christmas songs are sung."

For people weary of the clattering Christmas machine, blaring TV ads and their screaming "buy-buy-buy" incantations, a December visit to Amish country in northern Indiana is a relief.

The buildings are white. The furniture is plain. No rowdy bars, because there is no alcohol. There’s not a single TV in the hotel lobby, or in restaurants or anywhere else blaring ESPN or Fox News. It’s all white fences and rural living. I look out my hotel window and see horses and black buggies. Along the road, winter has stripped the leaves off the trees, and the fields are bare with stubble. The houses have driveways, but no cars. And I feel embarrassed when my cell phone rings.

The Amish are part of a strict Anabaptist group that came from Switzerland to America in the early 1700s. In general, they shun motor vehicles, electricity from the grid, TV, phones and computers. They leave school after the eighth grade, dress in old-fashioned garb, marry young and have lots of children. Northern Indiana has 21,560 Amish, one of the biggest populations in the nation.

Appreciating the duality of Amish Christmas in Shipshewana is Levi King, a local businessman who owns JoJo’s Pretzels and some other shops. He grew up Amish in Lancaster, Pa., until age 7, when his parents left the faith. Nearly all his relatives are Amish. His wife grew up Amish, too.

He estimates that four in 10 business owners in Shipshewana are formerly Amish and that 15 percent are currently Amish. He also has many Amish employees, and they all are relying on holiday tourists to buy lots of gifts in the lushly holiday-decorated shops — even though the Amish themselves tend to give small practical things like flashlights or stools for Christmas.

Unlike many other religious folk, the Amish do not want to change you, or convert you, or talk you out of buying an iPad or that garish big-screen TV for Christmas. They just hope you’ll stop by and pick up an Amish-made desk, quilt or a big wheel of cheese, and stay in a nice Amish hotel and dine at a local restaurant, and enjoy the sights so different from your own life.

The best thing about Christmas time in Amish country?

"When there is snow on the ground, you might still hear the clop-clop of the horse, but you won’t hear the buggy," King says. "It’s silent."

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MORE DETAILS:

WHERE TO SEE THE AMISH

Americans’ fascination with Amish people coincides with a swelling number of them — 273,000 in the U.S., double that of 1991. It’s due to a high birth rate, not outsiders joining. Here are more facts:

—Top Amish settlements in U.S.

Holmes County area, Ohio — 31,980

Lancaster County area, Pa. — 31,020

LaGrange-Shipshewana-Elkhart area, Indiana — 21,560

—States with most Amish people

Ohio — 63,990

Pennsylvania — 63,785

Indiana — 47,235

Wisconsin — 16,255

New York — 14,715

Michigan — 12,935

—Top Amish tourist towns

Intercourse, Pa.

Sugarcreek, Ohio

Shipshewana, Ind.

Berlin, Ohio

—Source of most visitors to Shipshewana

Indiana

Michigan

Illinois

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IF YOU GO:

LODGING: Many choices; try the Farmstead Inn at $79 and up in winter. It is big and clean with a modest free breakfast. ((www.farmsteadinn.com, 260-768-4595)

DINING: Nothing fancy, and the town is dry. The Blue Gate restaurant has a placid ambiance and adequate Amish-Midwestern fare; JoJo’s Pretzels has big, buttery pretzels. The town has ample spots to pick up good cheeses and pies.

SHOPPING: The giant flea market is closed in December, but Christmas shopping is absolutely charming in town. I liked Simple Sounds in the Davis Mercantile, but all the little shops are good for wandering. Look for locally made wind chimes, amazing quilts and fabric. I also like the historic Gohn Brothers dry-goods/Amish clothing shop in Middlebury.

CULTURE: Meno-Hof, a local culture center, explains Amish life; you also can hire private guides or horse-and-buggy tours year-round.

For details on these restaurants, stores and tours, contact www.amishcountry.org and www.visitshipshewana.org. (800-254-8090).

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IF YOU PLAN A VISIT TO SHIPSHEWANA:

—Do talk to locals. "A lot of tourists come here thinking they are not allowed to talk to the Amish. Some (locals) are bashful, but most will talk to you," says Levi King, a businessman who owns JoJo’s Pretzels and other shops in town. "The only reason an Amish person wouldn’t talk to you is that he is in a hurry to get someplace."

—Do ride the Shipshewana Carousel. On the top floor of Davis Mercantile, the 1906 carousel features animals found in the Shipshewana area — chickens, pigs, dogs, horses. $2.

—Do wander the warehouse-style E & S Sales Bulk Foods grocery store. It’s where the regular Amish people shop, and it is an eye-opener. You’ll see buggies parked shoulder-to-shoulder in the parking lot, Amish women and amazingly docile flocks of children, little girls wearing little white caps, moms in Amish dress pushing giant orange shopping carts piled with Sugar Pops. A lot of the moms looked tired to me. With an average of seven children, who wouldn’t be?

—Do stop at the Guggisberg Deutsch Kase Haus (Cheese House) in Middlebury, and watch the curds and whey turn into cheese. Magic.

—Do pick up a copy of the Budget ($1, available around town). The thick national newspaper of the Amish-Mennonite community has a 19th century layout and contains reports from hundreds of local correspondents with news about who died, who was born, about canning applesauce and cows in basements.

—Don’t hit a buggy. I saw one almost get run over by a semi-truck turning left at a four-way stop.

—Don’t expect to see holiday decorations outside of town.

—Do drive down side roads and notice what is NOT there — cars, electrical lines, Christmas trees.

—Do notice what’s NOT sold in the many stores — booze and books depicting the wider world. Every book kiosk I saw came from Choice Books, which distributes only "wholesome" family and religious books.

—Do enjoy the ice festival coming up Dec. 27-29.