COWBOYS & COWGIRLS

The location of our trailer, is adjacent to the horse pathway to, and from the Tucson Rodeo arena.  All of the contestants pass to the left of where we're parked, and the pedestrian pathway is directly in front of us.  As a result, the opportunity to see the sights and sounds of rodeo are pretty darn good.  Western attire is definitely the dress code, and some of the kids look like they came right out of a western movie from the 1950's.  I had to zoom in with most of these pictures, so the clarity isn't that great, but as you can see, at least for a day, these kids are cowboys & cowgirls.

 This little boy's hat is almost bigger than he is.

 Yesterday was breast cancer awareness day, and this cowgirl's outfit was definitely pink.

The western lifestyle is a fundamental ingredient of rodeos.  The rodeo competition was born from the day to day activities of folks who used horses on their ranches, and farms.  Every year when we work this rodeo, and in years past, when we've worked the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, we are always impressed with the people who are part of this culture.  Almost without exception, folks are very polite, they stop what they're doing, and take off their hats when the National Anthem is played, they believe in the concept of hard work, they are respectful, and they epitomize the true meaning of patriotism.  When I watch the news, and see all of the thievery, violence, and disrespect for just about everything, I often compare that culture of no values, to what I call the western culture. The difference is truly night and day.  If our melting pot that we call America, had an instant injection of western culture values, it would be much better served.

Today starts 3 days of small crowds, but we'll still be open for business.  The Tucson school system brings lots of kids to the rodeo on these three days, and we learned last week, that our Granddaughter Laila, and her classmates will be here today.  We just might have to get her a new Cowgirl hat!