Sex In the Sticks

This is what we call staff meals at Fresh and Wyld. Put a bunch of girls around a table with some delectable farm fresh goodies cooked up by Dava and all sorts of stories start tumbling out. Uproarious laughter fills the old farm house.  Snorting. Squealing. Grinning. We absentmindedly scratch the butts of various dogs that pass in and out and refill our tea cups as we settle into another delicious story.

Dating in a small town: Crazy. The overlap that can occur is, at times, amusing and simultaneously...something one shouldn't dwell on for too long. Paonia is definitely haunted. Anyone you have unresolved issues with you are bound to run into again and again until you resolve them. There's no hiding from your past. There's no hiding from your mistakes. Or from someone you used to date. Or the person that's dating someone you used to date. It keeps you honest. Invites you to deal, make peace, and grow.

I am just too modest here to actually include you all in the true essence of Sex In the Sticks. My brother reads this. He doesn't want to hear how yoga class with Amy has totally revolutionized my orgasm or any of the details leading up to the event.

However, not one who wants to disappoint, here are a few precious nuggets on dating in a rural area, a la Carrie Bradshaw:

What if leaving a love note for a crush in the clutches of a dried out chicken claw is all that a girl needs to say her heart's been captured?

If I could master a skid steer could a successful relationship be that far behind?

When I feel like a dog next to cow shit when I'm with someone I like I start getting anxious. If my dog doesn't realize that she's rolling in putrid crap what's keeping me from making the same mistake?

How unfair is it to capitalize on the weakness of people who find homesteading and tipi-dwelling irresistible without telling them that you are, in spite contrary appearances, rather high maintenance?

If you were hoping for some sort of steamy story today, I am sorry to disappoint. Maybe this will be the first edition in a series of Sex In the Sticks posts. Just not sure how I feel about bearing such personal details. Until then, I hope y'all are having disastrous, delicious, hilarious times out there and have found proper company to giggle and swoon with. 

This is Rufus. He's Ruda's brother from another mother. Whenever I watch him he always gets into trouble with Ruda and I have to bring him to the vet. Last time I had him he was injured within a record two hours. This time it took a full week.

I cleaned out the tool shop this week and found this beauty.

And a hand scythe! Just in time because my internal tantrums continued with my use of the weed wacker. Thank g for the noise-free simplicity of hand tools.  

Dragonflies arrived this week.

The valley is incredibly smokey this morning from the fire in Mancos. Colorado is ablaze right now. Fires in Ft. Collins, Estes Park, Colorado Springs, Mancos, Durango, and more. Prayers to the people, the animals, and the firefighters. 

Photo courtesy of Melissa Johnson

Photo courtesy of Bill Starr.