Last night, I attended my hometown rodeo. We had bull-riding, calf-riding, barrel-racing, two-man calf roping, sheep-riding, and grab-the-ribbon-off-the-tail. These last two activities were for children. At this rodeo, the children got to play! (Oh, I would have liked to have been 7 years old again just so that I could have played.)

The sheep-riding event was for the really young ones. I don’t have a picture of this, but just imagine a four-year-old being placed on the back of a very woolly sheep. The child lies face-down on the sheep’s back and grabs a good handful of wool on both sides of the sheep’s neck. The sheep is released, and the child haaaannnnggggs on! At five seconds, the bell rings, and one of the many assistants grabs the child off the sheep. Only one or two children made it to five seconds. The rest slid off and landed in the mud. Not one child cried, and not one mother screamed. Everyone had fun.

The grab-the-ribbon-off-the-tail was the next children’s event, and it was for children under the age of thirteen. A ribbon was loosely tied to a calf’s tail, and the children were to grab the ribbon. Well, that calf was pretty quick. And even though he was outnumbered, it took a couple of minutes before the ribbon was grabbed. Here's the line-up of youngsters before the calf was released.



And for the older children……well, they were calf-riding and barrel-racing and calf-roping!

It was a wonderful way to spend a Friday evening.

Ya’ll take care,
Suzanne

We rafted down the river on a Friday.

We had begun thinking about the rafting trip on Monday. On that day, it had been casually mentioned and lightly discussed. There was only slight interest. On Tuesday, the subject came up again, and there was more interest. The discussion centered around the river rating of “2 with some 3”. Just what did that mean? Did that 2 rating mean we might get a little wet? Did it mean that survival would qualify us for the Olympics? Should we update our wills?

On Wednesday, it was time for a decision. The group was gathered around a morning campfire for a dutch-oven brunch. Brenda brought the rafting brochure. It said our trip would be “fun for the entire family”. It gave the cost and the time involved. And slowly, we began to envision ourselves going down that river. Our eyes kept looking at the river running through the campground. That was the river that we would be rafting. It looked fine. And with that, the decision was made! Six of us would go…..Brenda, Lotus, Beverly, Ruth Ann, Margaret, and me. What a memory we were going to make!

And the trip was exactly what we had hoped for. That 2 rating meant that the raft did need our paddling, but not all that much. The water was cold, but we didn’t fall in. The weather was bright and sunny, but it wasn’t too hot.

And what a memory we made. That picture says it all.

So long for now,
Suzanne

Mountain meadows, mountain streams. Colorado is so beautiful. And my campground was right in the middle of it. The flowers were blooming right there in my campground, and the stream lulled me to sleep at night. But I decided that I wanted to see even more. I decided that a horseback ride through the meadows and streams would be ideal. Nothing too adventurous……just a nice pleasant ride.

And that is how I met Regina.

Regina was the beautiful brown and white horse that was assigned to me. Her job was to safely transport me along the easy/adventurous route which I had opted for. Easy/adventurous meant a 3-hour ride with no running or galloping and the route would go up the mountains.

Regina let me know right away that the “no running or galloping” rule still left a lot of room for thrills. After all, a sudden twitch and jump to the left did not qualify as a run or gallop. But if the twitch and jump occurred on a slick wooden bridge over a rocky stream, then that would certainly give the rider a good thrill. And for that little trick, our group’s trail leader turned around to check on the situation.

Regina also seemed to know the subtle differences of the various paces that a horse can do. She knew the difference between a run/gallop and a trot. It seemed that trotting was allowed. Regina would trot in order to catch up to the horse in front. Regina did enjoy her trots.

And Regina also knew that a slight change in route could provide a thrill. Going to the left of a tree instead of going to the right could make a BIG difference if the trail being followed was narrow, winding, and on the side of a mountain. Regina’s little attempt at going left provided a huge adrenalin rush to me. And once again, our trailer leader turned around to check on the situation.

This 3-hour ride through the mountain meadows and streams was beautiful. I did become used to Regina’s “trotting to catch up”, and Regina did stop twitching, jumping, and changing course. Our trail leader no longer had to turn around to check on the situation. I was able to relax and enjoy the mountain meadows and streams. I even took a picture of the beauty that I saw. And, on the return trip, Regina behaved herself on that bridge.

Ya’ll take care,
Suzanne

Well, I knew that I hadn’t blogged in a while, but I didn’t realize that it had been almost four weeks! When I last wrote, I was still in Salem, OR. In these last four weeks, I finished the Rally in Salem(six days), traveled to Colorado to meet up with friends (four days), stayed in Colorado (seven days), traveled home to East Texas (three days), and readjusted to Life-On-The-Lake (eight days).

So, I asked myself…..“How do I get back to blogging? Where do I start?” I decided to start with TODAY.

Today is a Rainy Day Schedule. Now-a-days, that means that I get to stay inside, drink lots of coffee, and enjoy watching a good soaking rainfall that is going to fall for hours and hours.

Forty years ago when I taught sixth-graders, those words meant something entirely different. It meant that students would not be allowed outside and that students would remain in their room during recess.

I dreaded those words from the principal.

I would look out the window and see torrents of rain coming down and wonder why the principal didn’t realize how beneficial it would be for my 30 hooligans to experience the wonders of nature. I could see no reason to keep them inside. They should step outside and benefit from the great outdoors. They should take measurements…..such as amount of rainfall, length of time needed to completely soak their blue jeans, and number of children able to squeeze under a slide and stay dry.

My principals never agreed with me. Isn’t that strange?

That’s it for now. It is so good to be back home, and it’s great to enjoy this Rainy Day Schedule.

Ya’ll take care,
Suzanne

P.S. Did I say “hooligans” earlier? Please forget that. I meant “angels”.