If you're looking for a statuesque, long-legged, fussy, high-maintenance, uptown girl, look elsewhere. I'm just 4'11, but friendly, accepting, upbeat, outdoorsy, smart, sober, stable, and funny. I am a recently-retired community college English professor who's still teaching just a little, and finishing up some classes toward a certificate in counseling. When I'm not pursuing such cerebral academics, I'm usually out hiking with my beloved dogs. Fortunately for us, the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal Towpath are close by. Better still, I now live in the middle of an old fifty-acre dairy farm. I only own three acres, but the lovely old meadows are mine to walk every day. I should add that, in the interests of truth in advertising, I can't claim to be either a fast or strong hiker, for I'm kinda slow and don't do well with big elevation changes with my short legs, but I can go a pretty good distance otherwise. Hiking makes me happy.

I also like trying to make things grow in my garden. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't, but it's worth all the muddy shoes and the ridiculous weeds when the zinnias and marigolds prosper, or a long-lost perennial returns to put on a surprise show. This year's garden was a squash explosion, planted as it was in the old barnyard. And hey, if you're nice to me, I'll give you a pretty pumpkin for your front porch as I seem to have an awful lot of those as well.

I enjoy live music a whole lot. My tastes are pretty eclectic (I guess like everyone else's), but let's see. . . in the last year or so, I have been to live concerts by Lyle Lovett, Herbie Hancock, The Squirrel Nut Zippers, John Prine, the Baltimore Symphony, the B-52s, and a couple of baroque operas I can't even remember the names of. You get the idea. Lately, I've been listening to more jazz than anything, but next thing you know I'll be binging on bluegrass or reggae or celtic.

Favorite movies are Fargo, It's a Wonderful Life, Pan's Labyrinth, and UP. But Fargo's first. There are many more faves, but those should give you an idea of what I consider good stuff. Oh, and have you seen Lars and the Real Girl?

My new home is a cottage twenty miles west of Frederick. Its renovation is a work in progress and a labor of love. The work has involved a steep learning curve for me, but I am so happy to be living here now in the beautiful lap of Pleasant Valley in Washington County, MD, with my two dogs and two cats. I suspect more pets are in my future, so whoever you are, please love animals. Currently, I am also monitoring an ongoing fencing project of my pastures, hoping to have a home ready for some sheep by mid-fall. When folks ask me why I want sheep, I tell them it is for purely decorative reasons, my pastoral landscape crying out for them.

While I enjoy living just an hour+ outside of DC and Baltimore and do take advantage of the wealth of museums and galleries there, I could never live in the city. I'm not a shopper, and while I enjoy a wonderful meal as much as anyone, I don't require gourmet restaurants around every corner. I am most definitely a country mouse.

I read the Washington Post daily, and The New Yorker regularly. Since I am an English teacher, obviously I enjoy reading novels as well. Like everyone else, I seem to do it in fits and starts. In terms of recent reads, I adored Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, and I am in the middle of my second Richard Russo novel of the summer: Bridge of Sighs. Straight Man was one of the funniest books I have ever read. (Well, after Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day). I also do some writing - - memoir, essay, and poetry, and I even have an unfinished novel manuscript that I sometimes think about.

I'm happy with my life, for my two children have grown into wonderful grown-up friends, and I have good health, good friends, a cool place to live, and financial security. But, well, I guess I wouldn't be on this website if I weren't interested in finding someone to share it with me.

There are two kinds of first dates. One, a date with someone you really don't know at all - - that first date should be a quickie, a coffeeshop or bookstore encounter to check the chemistry levels. No more than an hour - - unless there are sparks. Then, who knows?

The other sort of first date is different; in this case, you have already gotten to know the person fairly well online or through friends or phone calls. Then you may feel fairly comfortable about meeting for a simple meal together, and see how that goes. Very civilized. And possibly, romantic.

On the other hand, a second date should probably be a hike. Does he really like hiking and the woods, or is he a poseur? And, very important, does he like my bone-headed dogs? Will he stop and admire that dragonfly - - or miss it completely? Will the hike be a death march, all about getting to the vista or the trail's end in record time? Or will it be a journey rich in the shared pleasures of delicate sights, subtle sounds, and the marvelous tang of pinescent?