Last evening, we drove over to nearby Paonia to hear picking’ and strummin’ and eat good food.  On the way, we stopped off at Ace Hardware in Hotchkiss to buy a wind chime. Also picked up some cans of Pelegrino to sustain us.  You can get anything at Ace.

Entering the park, the first thing we saw was this commemorative statue honoring the town’s miners.

Elizabeth called my attention to his facial expression:

Food/beer venders play a big part at the Paonia Park gathering.  I personally enjoyed a homemade pot pie and a strawberry-rhubarb one.

I did enjoy the music

but mostly, I enjoyed people watching.  I didn’t quite fit in.  I was the only woman there with lipstick on.  Most of the women had very long, beautiful hair, much of it was gray.

And the men!  Breathtaking! I tried to document without being intrusive. Here are a couple of representative shots I was able to get.

Mountain men!

I asked a toddler if I could take a picture of his tee shirt, but he declined by lying down on his tummy.  It had a picture of a VW bus on it.  The caption read:  “What would Jesus Drive?”