Allie White, second-year member on the Epson Tour, will be sharing her adventures throughout the 2014 season. If you, the fans, have a question or topic you'd like Allie to cover just e-mail us at Epson Tour. Be sure to take a look back at her blogs from her 2013 Rookie season.

City Mouse… Country Mouse

So I’m driving around downtown Defiance, Ohio looking for some WIFI and coffee so I can write this blog. Of course to the misfortune of the Sunday blogger, Defiance is the most religious small town in the world and the one coffee shop in town is closed. Fortunately, every town these days usually has some golden arches laying around somewhere… and let me tell you the indie rock playing in the modern, WIFI-equipped, Defiance McyD’s is top notch writing music.

What am I doing in Defiance, Ohio while the Epson Tour rolls on through the Midwest you might ask? Well, Defiance hosts the Ohio Women’s Open and I’m from Ohio so I need to represent. And I’ve brought some Carolina ringers up to contest for a victory as well.
2011 Tar Heel graduate Jordan Allyne from Seattle, Washington and recent grad Katherine Perry from Raleigh, North Carolina have been getting prepped for the tourney and taking in Ohio since last Wednesday.

Now I always realized that Ohioans were proud to a fault but upon showing off my town for the first time to college friends I realized just how much I fit the bill. I had the biggest time showing the two city kids the country way.

Our cane raisin’ started out at one of the small towny bars. Not surprisingly, being a small town I knew all three of the wait staff and a few customers and the rest of them we knew by the end of the night. Small talk in a small town is never awkward...football, weather, crops, how’s the fam… repeat.

After a few beers and the best local custard, my Seattle counterpart was feeling pretty jet lagged sleepy and she headed for bed… little did she know what was coming her way next.

After a hilly 18 with my Mom, Seattle, and the waiter (where everyone at the clubhouse asked how we were doing and bought us a drink do to our witnessing a hole-in-one) it was time for fishing.

Jordan had only ever caught one fish. So I take her digging for worms. She says, “So we like have to kill the worms?” Me...“Yep”.

Well I throw in the worm and catch a fish. Then my friends Katherine and Kevin show up and Katherine pulls out a bass two minutes into it. One hour later with 6 fish to fillet, and most everyone being done fishing, Jordan has still not caught a fish. I thought she’d quit but brow-furrowed she fishes on. Keep in mind this is one of the fishiest ponds in the world… I have watched Kindergartners pull out bass with cane pools… so of course I’m giving her a hard time.

Well, suddenly I hear from across the pond…

“Oh my God! Oh my God! I have a fish! Oh my God! What do I do?!”

“Pull is on shore!” I say. The fish falls off.

And you thought she would quit then. But nope. Ten minutes later…

“Oh my God! Oh my God!” she pulls out the biggest blue gill I have ever seen.

And so it’s time to fillet the fish. Katherine and my Dad and I are chopping off heads no problem… Jordan gets a sick look…

“I usually just get my meat from the grocery store…

We laugh. The circle of life was in full swing at the farm for the visit. We had a baby lamb born the day the Katherine arrived… later on that night… a coyote had dinner.

At the bonfire (where I acquired the most humbling batch of poison ivy I’ve ever had… scratch… itch…scratch), the Tar Heels were still pretty sad about the lamb, but when I told my county buds we all just shrugged… “It happens.” Then we started telling Coyote stories…

However, my buddies would agree, that rural Ohio is a pretty peaceful place. In comparison to the mountains that can shake you up and the ocean that can swallow you up and the Florida gators that can eat you up… you kind of have to make your own danger excitement. It can get ya in a pickle sometimes but it’s made for a lot of creative Ohioans and travelers. I have seen more OH-IO’s in strange far off bars than you can imagine.

In fact when people ask me if I was ever mad at Lebron for leaving… I’m like “Heck no! The Wright Brother’s made an airplane to get away, and Neil Armstrong went to the moon… I currently live in Tar Heel Heaven… Ohioans are stoked to have the King back.”

I guess to sum it up… it has been great to show my friends the countryside that I love but I’ll be back adventuring here soon shootin’ for the moon just like many Ohio natives do.

As for Seattle, she asked if she could bring our Ohio hosts some Seattle gifts…“I was like yeah… maybe a Nirvana shirt and some “brownies”?”

She laughed. I think I will have to go visit the beautiful mountains my newly country tough friend has in her neck of the woods here soon.

Inside the Ropes August

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