Dating Can Suck…

From a female in MT

This wonderful story of a “sweet” date is used with permission from my good friend Jill who writes a blog called “Dating with Children”

As you may remember, I had a date yesterday to go hunting. I would have talked about it last night, but I was miserably tired from said date.

I dropped off the kids at school and by the time I got home, a cute little truck with a cuter man was sitting in my driveway. I hadn’t seen “Ron” for quite some time, so I was a little bit nervous about it. As luck would have it, we have always been very comfortable with each other and soon were talking like no time at all had passed. I went to the hardware store and bought my conservation license and my elk tag. Grand total: $30. Totally worth it. Natural organic meat is a good thing, right?

Off we drove into the mountains. We were cuddling a little bit in the truck (as much as the rifle between us would allow) and talking and sharing a cup of cocoa. We’ve shared germs before, so why not drink out of the same cup? We drove quite a long way up a mountain until we got to the “no motorized vehicles allowed” spot and then proceeded to walk. I was so stupid about hunting that I got out and shut the door loudly and was talking in a normal tone of voice until I realized that he shut his door gently and was whispering. Ooops! Hunting Date Faux Pas #1: Do not talk loudly while hunting. Do not make any unnecessary noise. All of you hunters may now say DUH!

We started walking up the mountain and after about 20 feet I realized how incredibly out of shape I am! As he was strolling along leisurely (with a sharp eye out and very little whispering), I was huffing and puffing and about had a panic attack when I realized that I just couldn’t do it! I felt as if I could not take another step. I have had a cold lately that has made it impossible for me to take deep breaths, so I felt like I was running out of oxygen. It was kind of scary! So after hiking along and having me huff and puff next to him, he said, “Are you okay?” to which I said “Yeah!” (I’m a liar!). I decided to just focus on the next bend and suck it up and not be such a wuss.

We came across the fresh tracks of other hunters, so Ron said that we should go somewhere else where there might not be other people. We hadn’t seen life of any kind, not so much as a squirrel, nor tracks of animals, so (hunting goddess that I am) I figured that was a good plan. We continued to drive up the mountain. Still no sign of life, but it was so nice to have a grown-up sexy man sitting next to me engaging in adult conversation. I get so little of that in person! We spoke of our past, of things spiritual, of people we have dated, of our children, of our exes. It was wonderful. Amazing how a little conversation makes you feel human again!

At the top of the hill, we pulled into a gulch and drove to the top of that. We parked there and had a good talk and possibly, just maybe (though I will never kiss and tell!) a little lip action. It was really nice. We were so far from civilization that we couldn’t hear a thing other than our own breathing. The trees surrounded us and were covered with snow. It was so beautiful!

After deciding that an elk wasn’t going to jump out of the woods just because we wanted it to, we drove to the south side of town up a pass and to a mountain that a student of mine claimed was loaded with elk. After another narrow and snowy road to another “no driving past this point” sign, we took off up and around the hill. It was long. I was dying for oxygen. He was quiet and managed to smoke a cigarette while I was trying just to put one foot in front of the other! (note to self: take up jogging) We found that we were finding all kinds of elk tracks, but no elk. We walked back down, taking a slightly different route, and found a couple of does and bucks, but didn’t have tags for them. It was by now time for me to pick up the kids from school, so we walked out (I love downhill!) and went home.

In all it was a wonderful date in spite of not having the opportunity to use the rifle. I live in such a beautiful area to be wandering about. I felt like I was getting away with something because my kids were at school and I was playing hooky from work. Ron is possibly the kindest man I have ever met and we have very similar views on many major life influences such as children and God. I have dated him off and on since July of 2004 and feel I know him quite well, but I am a slow mover.

Who knows what the future holds?