I wanted to share a recent experience, that really adds color to what it is like living in the country. The people, the practices, the lifestyle, what is considered normal around here.
Some of us were hanging around after a Chamber of Commerce coffee hour, when the discussion topic turned to hunting. Most of the folks were locals. Or had been raised in similar communities to this one. The discussion we were listening to (in great detail I might add) about duck hunting, seemed to hit a crescendo when the following story was told.
My friend relayed just how hunting season informed almost all of her wedding plans & activities. She explained that her fiancé was very concerned about any wedding festivities eating into his hunting time. To the extent that she felt compelled to use that fixation to make a point. She planned their wedding date right smack in the middle of deer hunting season. And in the middle of the day, no less. Not being pleased about the date, but still wishing to convey his love and devotion to his future wife, he acquiesced.
Laughing as she told us this story, she said “I should have picked camo as my wedding colors, because half the congregation were still dressed in their hunting clothes.” She said their wedding was scheduled for 2pm. Which was during the height of their hunting activities that day. The guests didn’t want to get all dressed in their gear, hunt for a couple hours, then come get cleaned up for the 2pm wedding, only to go back through all those motions to get back out in the hunting action later in the day. She said she could smell the distinct aroma of deer urine assaulting her senses, too. Because, yes, those hunter-wedding guests had doused themselves with the secret weapon of deer scent to improve their chances of felling the big one that day.
So wedding day, amidst all the regular anxiousness that comes with new commitments, the bride-to-be had to contend with the visual passive aggression of the camo clad guests, checking their watches as they sat as quietly as in their deer stand pews, smelling of doe urine.
While she was telling us this story, I was doing that face that looked shocked, then with each successive detail, somehow getting more shocked and yet hilariously entertained at the same time. I remember having to catch my breath several times from laughing so hard. I told her that I was most certainly going to write this story down and share it. You can’t make this stuff up! Real life is its own hilarity. Truth is in fact funnier than fiction.
I’m happy to report that these two dedicated friends are still together and married to this day, several decades going strong! Although love can be a fickle business, when you keep the main thing the main thing, when you commit to being genuine and real amidst life’s myriads of situations, you end up with people like the ones we meet out here in Kentucky’s beautiful countryside. They may have their own set of unique quirks and preferences, they may be a bit raw and unfiltered, but they are authentic people. Living here in the not-so-perfect hard that comes with life where we are, must polish and hone the character in an enduring and effective way. I’m grateful to be part of this community. And to see it through a lense that can both laugh and appreciate it for what it gives.
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