A month ago I found the perfect cowgirl boots -ankle height, low heel, adorned with rhinestones and chains. I thought of all the adorable outfits I could pair them with at parties and bars, but I ended up donning them in a place I thought they’d never see…a farm!
Eight hours from where I call home, there’s a lovely little town called Timber Lake in South Dakota. I was invited to stay at the Jacobs’ farm, eight miles out of town. Timber Lake is part of the Cheyenne River Reservation and once a year its residents celebrate the Days of 1910 -the year the town was founded. This occasion, for which I was invited, is a time when people return to their home town and join others from surrounding towns for a good time.
This beautiful, quaint town comes alive with rodeos, dances, beer gardens, and so much more. From sun up to sun down up, this town, where everybody knows your name, is buzzing with excitement and energy.
This being my second year back to “The Days” (as residents call it), I saw a lot of familiar faces. But the haze of last year’s celebration left me squinty eyed and searching my memory, when what seemed to be strangers would embrace me in a big hug and welcome me back. A couple drinks in, and we’re old friends. Over the weekend I danced the nights away, met what felt like all of Timber Lake’s 443 residents, and had more than a few beers while cheering on brave bull riders. Sunday came all too quickly, but Monday was a welcome rest. While I was hydrating, returning emails and tending to an exhausted liver, the hard workers of Timber Lake were back to work, in fields and offices.
Later that night I caught a movie at my very first drive-in theater. About 30 minutes away in Mobridge I was introduced to my new favorite way to go to the movies -Cuddled up to a real live cowboy in a big pickup, with a cooler full of drinks, fresh cherries and a huge stary sky surrounding the big screen. They could have been playing infomercials on that screen for all I cared.
The town of Timber Lake is a lot of things, but sleepy ain’t one of ’em. The next few days were filled with fishing, swimming, berry picking, an impromptu fish fry at the Jacobs’ farm and long walks on their beautiful land with my camera. Next stop, Sturgis. These cowgirl boots got a lot more action than I ever expected.
partylikeawaitress 
EXCELLENT! Those are some of the reasons I moved to the country. Also, stunning sunrises and sunsets year round, the ever changing wildflowers along the roads and in the fields, the vastness of the place, the quiet and the stunning night skies.