Stock show & rodeo redux

A week ago Sunday (Jan 28), we took the kids to the Stock Show. M's kindergarten class had been there the Tuesday before (see January 25th entry) and we thought it would be fun to go back. K and L hadn't been since before M was born. We hadn't counted on the crowds... it was one of the first nice-weather weekends they've had at the Stock Show this year, and the place was packed. We had hoped to go to one of the Sunday rodeos, but they were sold out. So I decided to bring the kids back for a rodeo on Monday night. Anyway, here's what we saw on Sunday...

M reunites with the stock show mascots

Rusty the Star-Telegram bull. That horn-span is over 6 feet!

trying out the tractors in the exhibit hall

Watch where you step in the cattle barn...

back at the petting zoo

Monday night rodeo

So the kids and I went back Monday night for the rodeo, since the Sunday afternoon show had sold out. It was the first rodeo I've been to in about 6 years. The rodeo used to come to San Angelo every March, and we went a few times, but by the time I was in junior high and high school, I really didn't want to have anything to do with it. In high school, I considered myself much too "cool" to have anything to do with something so... agrarian, so... "western". The one we went to six years ago was my first rodeo in probably 15 or 16 years. And I'd been wanting to get back to another one ever since. I'll tell ya what, if you haven't been in a while, you may want to go check one out... they're a lot more entertaining than I remember them being when I was 10 or 12! The bareback bronc riding and the bull riding were spectacular (the action was too fast for me to get good photos), but I was just as interested in the calf scramble, the cutting, the steer wrestling... with each event, the amount of skill, strength and finesse required of the participants was obvious.

I'm not kidding myself... I live in a cookie cutter suburban home on less than a 1/2 acre of land, I'll probably never own a horse or a cow in my life, and my kids are probably as likely to become doctors or astronauts as they are to ever learn to rope a calf or ride a cutting horse. But when you live in Texas, or hell, anywhere in the west, where certain things are a part of your region's culture and history, it's not a bad idea to get a look at them once in a while. I'm glad we went, the kids seemed to enjoy it (or at least they enjoyed the cotton candy and ice cream), and maybe we'll go again in a year or two.

Before the rodeo, we had time to ride the ferris wheel on the midway...

Cutting horse competition. The rider separates one cow from the herd, and then it's up to the rider and horse to keep it from getting back to the herd. Not as easy as it looks!

Home stretch run during the barrel racing...

roping competition

chuckwagon races

Since the Cowboys couldn't win, I'm glad the Colts could...

Well, I was glad to see the Colts come away with a victory at Super Bowl XLI. Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy are good guys, and I'm happy for them. And their status as Super Bowl champs means a little something for the Cowboys, as well... the Cowboys can say they beat 'em during the regular season! It's too bad that Dallas' season went to hell in December. But was it really that big of a surprise? With Parcells out of the picture, it'll be interesting to see what happens during the 2007 season. Now that football season is over, I'm kind of bummed; how am I gonna spend my Sundays? Only 6 months til August...

WSC

np: Townes Van Zandt - Blaze's Blues