ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

12. PRETTY AS A PEACH

★ Leonard ★

July 14 is our famous Peach Festival here in Weatherford. Parker County is the peach capital of the world. At least, that is what we like to think. We produce some of the best juicy, sweet peaches in the entire United States. So the Peach Festival has become our tradition that has been held every year on the same date.

Many peach farmers attend the festival and enter their peaches in a competition. The peach business is as serious as the cutting horse business. Before the festival begins, a peach pageant is held every year on the last weekend of June. Every year we choose who is the prettiest peach.

Beth and I always looked forward to going to the Peach Festival, especially entering a Rodeo Bull competition. Beth had chosen bull riding, the world's most dangerous organized sports and typically males only. Women have been riding since the '70s, typically on smaller bulls.

I was pretty good at it, but Beth was in another rank. She knew how to control the bull between her thighs. She was fierce and fearless.

When the bull nose-dived down, her hip bones pushed out automatically. When his nose went up, her stomach tucked in intuitively. It created such a provocative movement even she was still young. Beth was a true natural.

When Beth was sixteen years old, her mother registered her as a contestant because she thought Beth would be the perfect "Peach Princess." The Peach Pageant here in Parker County has eight age divisions from ages two to twenty-one. As Beth was still sixteen years of age, she competed as a "Peach Princess," and the oldest age category was a "Peach Queen."

The contestants compete in four categories: speech, photogenic, sportswear, and talent. Then the judges give them points on each category, and the one who earns the highest points in total wins the title.

When it was her turn to make a speech, Beth recited the entire epic "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. This speech was probably the most moving speech delivered in the history of this nation.

She recited it with so much emotion that all the judges were so moved, and some of them were even in tears. It was one of the darkest moments in this nation's history, yet this speech gave such hope to millions of people.

Then the contestants competed in the photogenic category. Each of them walked down the stage like a runway model. There, Beth scored big again because her long legs enhanced her graceful figure.

Her long, straight hair was curled up in big waves, and it bounced gently every time her long legs stepped forward. She walked like a graceful horse during an equestrian competition. She looked stunning with her peach-colored chiffon dress. It moved so smoothly as if it was floating around her body with no gravity.

The sportswear category was next. Each girl can choose her favorite sport and wear the outfit of her choice. Beth rightfully chose "cowgirl," which was her most natural choice.

She wore the white cowboy hat that she had worn for cutting horse competitions. It was obvious that she really went to win the "Peach Princess" title. She had a very tight, flannel, plaid shirt opens all the way down, and the end of the shirt hem was knotted tightly right below her bust. Her tanned midriff was clearly exposed.

She wore a pair of jean shorts. She cut out the legs of her tight old jeans. She usually wore them when she washed her old red Mustang that her grandfather gave her. Her perfectly round ass looked as juicy as a Parker County peach.

A wide cowboy belt accentuated her skinny waist. Her tanned legs extended all the way to her boots. As a finishing touch, she wore a pair of sexy golden and tan-colored cowboy boots made out of python.

This sexy cowgirl looks always boils a Texas boy's blood. I guess it is all in our genes. I can't help but gulp. I guessed all the judges felt the same way. She won big points there as well.

The last category was to exhibit her talent. She decided to go all the way with the country theme. She took up her acoustic guitar and sat on a wooden stool with one foot on the stretcher. Her long fingers struck the metal strings very gently, and the melancholic sound came out of the hollow hole.

It was the epic country song by Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You." The way she sang was a slower tempo than Dolly Parton. She had an extra twang in her voice.

We felt as if we were going back in time to when the state of Texas was just born. Her voice brought us back in time, and all the judges were completely lost in old memories. Probably all of them were thinking about their first loves and feeling the heartaches that they had buried deep.

When the song was over, everyone stood up and applauded as passionately as if she was a country superstar. There was no doubt in anyone's eyes that she had this year's "Peach Princess" in her grasp.