Wrap it up

The rodeo announcer said that the Fourth of July was the Christmas for the Rodeo and he then went on to explain that it was called that because of the number of Rodeos that a cowboy could be a part of in the 30 days surrounding July 4. But I think the name could also apply here in Taylor as the whole town gets involved in what has to be a grand celebration of the pioneer spirit and small town cohesiveness.

We rejoined the activities at noon when we and hundreds of others bought $6 dinner plates of "barbecue", the word they use in these parts to designate slowly cooked and lightly seasoned beef that is then pulled apart so that it can be eaten as a bread spread, stuffing in a taco or burrito, or just as a separate meat dish. They were also serving "Navajo Tacos" which consisted of fried bread dough about 8 inches in diameter. You could spread packets if honey on it, barbecue beef, beans or chili. Thinking that we'd be back for more, we skipped the tacos. We did, however, follow a local custom here of spreading several blankets on the grandstand seats we'd like to occupy, duct taping them in place for good measure.

Already (shortly after noon) you could hear the rodeo announcer announcing the preliminary contests for those events where an excess of cowboys had signed up. Our group split up - some to drive around the town seeing where it had changed so much.

An hour before the beginning of the rodeo we drove over trying to get a good parking space. Everyone else in this corner of the world had the same idea. Fortunately, they also had handicap parking and it was both close and available.

The rodeo started on time and had a good mix of events including bareback riding, saddleback riding, bull riding, calf roping, and barrel racing. There was one incident of the rodeo clown sustaining a broken leg but otherwise it was a flawless evening.

Two hours into the program the lights were turned off and the fireworks started. To the strains of 4 country-western patriotic songs, a great collection of fireworks were shot. The rodeo resumed and (I'm told) went until 2:00 am.

It was a greaet Fourth of July.