Summer: my favorite skirt is stretch denim mini skirt, my favorite top is a printed jersey shell. My favorite shoes are really cowgirl boots. My favorite hat is a black felt cowgirl hat with a silver band. My favorite dress is a aqua green silk Mandarin dress, and four and half inch black pumps. White pearl drop earrings go with that dress, no necklace. My favorite purse is small black with a gold chain shoulder strap.
There are a lot more things that are favorite, like working in the field and watching the sun rise and sun set. But let's talk about the bummer for this summer. All my Dr. at the VA canceled out on me due to the virus. I talked to Marlene and told her how disappointed I was. I worked hard to get the bikini tan lines and wanted to show off. She told me we could video conference. Not the same thing. Standing naked in front of the computer while only God knows how many hacked the channel wasn't happening. Pencil me in for later in the year. Maybe I'll still get the chance to show off the long, ankle length denim wrap skirt and the denim short sleeve blouse with a ton of bling on it? It's a true pioneer woman cowgirl, rodeo, outfit.
It's a bitch of a haul for everyone caught up in the Boy-Girl Gender Blender but hopefully all of you can find a little happiness in the many things in your lives. It's easier when no longer chasing that elusive rainbow of mind and body matching. If not possible maybe working on the things that are possible and enjoying the things that truly count. And if the world isn't the way you want it, gently, softly, help nudge it in the right direction. We may never reap the harvest but possibly those who follow will.
What's your favorites and your not so favorites?
Hugs people
Barb
Life is meant to be lived, not worn until it's worn out.
Comments
Sure, Sure
I had to put locks on my closets the way it is -- to keep you out.
There's no way I'm going to draw a map for you by telling you my favorites.
BTW: I suppose you forgot??? that that denim skirt and jersey shell are mine and should have been returned LONG ago.
Can't wait for the annual Oklahoma rattle snake drive to see how many of your neighbors send in checks to feed starving snakes.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Jill, I haven't forgot to return it
Hon, the only outfit I "forgot" to return is the white beaded, sequined, Princess dress. The others, I'm positive I returned them. Maybe we better check out your closets together to make sure???? Although I'm positive YOU wouldn't want ME to inconvenience you so just go on to the company HQ and I'll check out the closets to make sure every dress, skirt, blouse was returned.
You and the others return the volley so well it makes life worth living. As one of the girls posts for her tag line.
Life isnt measured in the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. George Carlin
Hugs Jill
Barb
When you get to Heaven look me up. I'll be out there with all the cows, horses, livestock.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Mangum, Oklahoma Rattlesnake Derby
Love, it's held in April. I know you're disappointed but make plans for next year. They even serve up rattlesnake for lunch or just snacks if one wishes. Take home a rattlesnake skin as a trophy. OR..., we can go rattlesnake hunting ourselves if you want. Snake proof boots and kelvar pants recommended although one may wear dress and heels. (not recommended)
https://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.18581
Then for extended excitement we can go to the Beaver, Oklahoma Cow Pie...Cowchip tossing contest. I strongly suggest lots of practice. It's not as easy as it looks. And picking up one that's too fresh isn't good neither.
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2188
Mangum is on the south side of the state, Beaver on the north. It will give us a great opportunity to stop and visit the largest windmill museum in the world at Shattuck.
https://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.6766
The wonders never cease as we cross the Canadian River where the Packsaddle Bridge was replace and we gaze back in history.
https://oklahoman.com/article/2023109/packsaddle-bridge-char...
If you like we can make a short detour there to the Packsaddle Sheep Farm. I know all the people there and they are super friendly. You may buy some raw wool to spin into yarn and make your own sweater for those cold winter days and nights.
I gets chills up and down my spine thinking of all the wonders we have in Oklahoma and that is only in western Oklahoma.
Hugs Jill
Barb
Life, enjoy it while we can. It's not going to last forever.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Rattlesnake Derby sounds fun!
Brings back memories of a time I was 14/15 years old. Bunch of men came up form the university wanting to so something with rattlesnakes, I think it was some kind of research since they were measuring, weighing and milking them. They got my dad to act as a guide and he took me and my best friend along.
Took them to this south facing cliffs that we already knew the nooks and crannies on it were full of timber rattlers. Once dad pointed out where the snakes were they asked how they were going to get them down and my dad pointed at me and my friend, who climbed up the cliff face, no ropes or anything but our bare hands (and bare feet) and began grabbing the snakes and tossing them down to the ground.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
What? No outhouse museum!
Obviously Oklahoma lacks one essential tourist spot.
And - I thought EVERYTHING was bigger in the US but the windmills are TINY. Give me a good old Dutch windmill any day.
Ever tried Kuhfladen-Bingo? Less messy than cowchip tossing.
I'm seriously impressed by the rattlesnake derby though. To bad I won't be able to bring my own (since it's a derby).
Well, off to Finland for some "eukonkanto".
No need for outhouse museum when we have the real deal
Kuhfladen-Bingo? Are you sure they aren't mistreating those poor animals. Looked strenuous to me. surrounded by a crowd they didn't know? Shock therapy is going to be needed.
eukonkanto? Really, a wife carrying contest? Who did you get to pretend was your husband? Does he know how many weapons you carry? If the judges found out would that be an added penalty? Listen, I'm picking up enough sass from Nuuan right now. She has a blue polyester jumpsuit culotte legs she won't loan me. I think she's being stingy and cold.
Hugs Doll, now about that gold, silk pantsuit you wore to Japan for the Nissan Board Meeting. I want to borrow.
Barb
Life is meant to be lived, not worn until it's worn out.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
When the blogs are more entertaining than some of the stories
I'm glad I check these out. I had a cute cream colored Versace blouse, skirt and vest outfit for awhile. Sadly gave it away when I couldn't fit into it anymore.
Wendy, don't remind me
Black sweater knit dress. Dieting for four months to put a figure in that dress. At that time thirty six, twenty three, thirty six. And yes part of that was silicone. Unlike a girl we won't mention, I didn't toss it. I cry every time I look at it. Add a multi strand silver necklace draped over my breasts, long silver dangle earrings, silver bracelets. Gold does NOT work with a long sleeve, turtle neck, full length black dress. Now I don't dare try it on. It would look like a bag of possums wrestling in a gunny sack. Life is sooooo unfair. Beauty is such a fleeting thing and for some of us, quicker than most.
Enjoy the snippets of life when they come. Wading barefoot in the crick, racing across the water in a cat, flying with a rotor overhead and an engine behind (gyrocopter). But most of all, hugging your favorite and saying, I love you as a full moon breaks the horizon and all the stars glisten like diamonds. That moment sharing one's life with the one they love, more than anything else in the world life's most precious moments.
Hugs Wendy
Barb
Life is a gift, treasure it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Traffic
Half a lifetime ago, I had a pair of jeans so tight I had to lie down to put them on. A pink-checked short sleeve oxford-style blouse, four-inch wedge-heel sandals, a single thick silver chain around my neck, and my chestnut hair in waves down to my waist.
I literally stopped traffic in that outfit. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
And we know we made the cut
Erin, I can picture you in my mind and you fit in perfectly with the stories. It's not the ones we see a hundred of in town but the one who doesn't look like all the rest. Is it only me or do you find yourself analyzing her to figure out how she brought it all together. Most women look at women. We study women and if the whole picture doesn't end up in the stories, parts of them do.
Hugs Erin
Barb
Problem with life is when we get it figure out, it's over. It ends too soon, it doesn't end soon enough. We are after all only human.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
My favorites are...
Memories;
Staying up all night just to watch the sunrise out across the ocean.
Stretched out on the hood of my pick up truck alone, my back against the windshield on top a mountain at night, 25 miles from from the nearest street light, watching the stars.
Pulling up to a stoplight in my Mustang, beside some kid in his wannabe hotrod that is trying to get others to race him stop light to stoplight, and bringing my rpm up high enough so he can hear the blower whine and realize he really doesn't want to show off any more.
Driving that same Mustang back and forth along a section of city streets that has a law on repetitive driving until a cop pulls me over, just to see the look on his face when it's not some young kid he pulled over.
Memories that I would rather forget;
Falling out of the boat when I leaned over to cut the line when my buddy caught a bull shark. Of course his retelling of that story is that I jumped out of the boat with my Bowie knife so I could "Wrestle" with the shark like in the old Tarzan movies.
Finding out I had reeled in a five foot long alligator while in waist deep water was another I could do without, luckily I had my trusty Bowie knife. Another story that my buddy retold much differently than I remember. Needless to say I did stop fishing with him.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
NOT WORKING SWEET HEART
Nuuan tired to throw all of us off with the shark and alligator wrestling stories. What she so carefully didn't mention is she is an exceptional instrumentalist and has played with some of the biggest names in the industry. Nor did she mention any of the show stopping outfits she owns.
I'm not feeling the love here! First Jill tells me she's locking her closets. Now Nuuan is trying to hide her stage clothes by NOT mentioning what she does. I gotta find a new batch of girls I can steal..., borrow from.
Hugs doll
Barb
Life is meant to be lived, not worn until it's worn out.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Instrumentalist!
You call being able to play the spoons being an instrumentalist? Okay, I'll admit I can get a pretty good rhythm going on the washboard too. Used to mess around bowing a saw but the little one gets pretty upset when she catches me using one of her violin bows for that, so I had to stop.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Missing some favorites
The smell of brand new babies, human and animal. Looking in on a sleeping baby, child, or one's own teenager. Helping a total stranger carry sacks to their car. Putting a meal on the table and enjoying the smiles as they eat. Kissing an owie and making it well of a little one before we put a bandaid on it. Watching them graduate high school and college. The first kiss.
Sitting in the garden eating tomatoes and beans off the vine.
Lot of speed bumps but a whole lot of those moments that take my breath away.
Hugs People
Barb
Life is a gift, don't waste it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
These are a few of my favorite things
The first autumn night when you can smell the shift in the air and the soil.
A cedar bench swing, gently creaking in counterpoint to the breeze rustling the limbs and leaves of the oaks above.
Fireflies on the night after the fourth of July, when the smell of fireworks still hangs in the air.
The smell of a warm fire in a pot belly stove, and the creak of the stove and its pipes as they react to the heat.
Fresh sweet potato pie, cooling on the countertop.
Honeysuckles growing on the side of a hill, deep in the woods.
Fresh cut grass and oncoming rain, the thunder rolling in the distance as you watch the clouds edge closer on the horizon.
The sound of fish breaking the surface of the water as they snap at the striders and dragonfly larvae.
The sound and smell of pulling an old book off the shelf and rustling the pages.
A warm blanket on a cold night.
That feeling when a pet of yours curls up next to you on the couch, not seeking attention, just closeness.
Rain tumbling through leaves, and the trickle of water through a rocky creek bed.
The smell of stone in the sunlight.
The sudden sight of the small creatures in the grass or in the trees, from frogs and crickets to turtles and caterpillars.
The sound of crunching gravel as you turn into your own driveway at the end of a long day away.
Vintage wood paneling, enriched with years of sweet pipe tobacco smoke.
Home made ice cream.
Eating watermelon on the tailgate of a pickup truck.
The vibrant purples and pinks as the sun just starts to set.
A tall glass of RC by the fire pit with my family.
Is that enough?
Melanie E.
You are blessed
The simple treasures in life are the most important. Material things may be stolen but the memories of time are the ones lasting forever and the most valuable. You have the right of it hon. Those around you are richer in their lives even if they don't know why.
Hugs Melanie
Barb
Life is meant to be lived, not worn until it's worn out.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Chirping
I love Melanie's list. But let me add just one:
The sound of any one of my four children (30-45) happily chirping about what's going on in their lives, as reflected in the smile on my spouse.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
It was so long ago
It was so long ago... There were some favorites but essential word is 'were'. Now my favorite is the possibility to come here whenever I wish.
I suppose my favorites are my
I suppose my favorites are my family. Wife. Kids. Parents. Siblings. Probably grandkids too, though the jury's still out on that. ;-)
While not driving, we have cared for DD kids and adults. That is something that gives me satisfaction as well.
Last but not least, being alive. Was never really sick, except for arthritis in my back (150 lb tarps will mess things up bad) and a wrist, then all of a sudden, everything went wrong. Diabetes, tumor, found out I've always had Tourette's syndrome. Very frustrating, but I can be glad I've been able to weather it.
Hugs!
Rosemary
Hugs Rose
Optimist, pessimist, and realist were debating at the end of the party over who got the last glass of wine on the table. As they were arguing a woman walked past them smiling. "While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it!" She was after all, the opportunist!
Some people are like that. They are society's action heroes. They do what they can, when they can. And if they can't they accept that too.
Hugs Action Hero, the world is richer for your presence.
Barb
Life is meant to be lived, not worn until it's worn out.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl