“They could no more reconcile to a mutually satisfying life than a donkey could sprout wings and fly.”

“January worked harder than a stump-tailed cow during fly time...”

“Never again could he see a dogwood blossom or eat a fish without thinking of her.”

“How could he convince her to join him and hitch her buggy to a star when she was bound and determined to hitch it to a sodbuster's plow?”

“I have plans for my life and they don't include taking time out to break my back busting virgin sod with a flimsy plow.”

“She was full of flaws which with time would evolve into full-blown personality defects.”

“There's a big ruckus under way down at the Rusty Plug. The miners are really tearin' the bone out.”