One of the divas plopped down on a stool at my kitchen counter and, as I stirred up a cake, proceeded to read out loud a list of America's sexiest men as determined by a popular magazine.

None of them overly impressed me, which brought up a discussion about what we consider to be sexy.

There are two things that rank at the top of my list, none of which, I suspect, pertains to any guy on that particular list. I think men who drive pickup trucks are incredibly sexy.

A good-looking man in blue jeans stepping out of a truck, especially an older model Chevy or Ford that has personality, takes my breath away. Not even the picture of John Wayne swinging down from the back of a large, handsome stallion is as rugged or as manly as a truck-driving guy.

I knew a woman once who divorced a man because he drove a pick-up. He wasn't sophisticated enough, she claimed.

I was astounded by this because I wondered why on earth a woman would even want a man who doesn't have a truck. Just wait until she needs a load of firewood, a Christmas tree, several bales of pine straw or a new recliner delivered. Then, she'll be sorry. She's certain to then see the sexiness of a man who drives a pickup as well as his usefulness.

I also have a strong affinity for men who carry pocket knives, probably because it's a carry-over from the days when rugged men went out to kill game in order to feed their families.

Sometimes when I meet a man whom I might be interesting in dating, I ask if he carries a pocket knife. If he does, he moves up on my list.

One of my dearest friends is Richard Childress, celebrated NASCAR team owner, who with the late Dale Earnhardt won six championships. He is pretty close to being the ideal man. Once I was struggling to break a string on a package and he happened to be close by.

"Childress," I asked. "Do you have a pocket knife?"

Clearly, I remember how he turned and stared at me for a moment as if I had lost my mind. Finally, he spoke. "I've got my pants on, don't I?"

As he dug into his pocket and pulled out the knife, I had to laugh because I have lost count of all the times I had asked my daddy the same question and he had responded with identical words.

My daddy also drove a pickup truck. They say that we women always look for a man like our daddies. That's probably why I think that the sexiest men in America drive pickup trucks and carry pocket knives.

[Ronda Rich is the author of "What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should)" and "My Life In The Pits." She lives just north of here in Gainesville.]