A Rodeo That'll Preach

The boys and I had the BEST NIGHT EVER!!!! I don't remember when we've ever had that much fun, just the 3 of us. Poor RV had to work (still not home yet at almost midnight) ~ he's put in 18 hour days since Tuesday -- a project that has to be completed by Friday has everyone pulling double shifts. The boys miss him terribly, and no matter how many times I tell them how fortunate they are that their daddy doesn't have to travel for days, weeks or months at a time, like some do, it's not bringing them any comfort. On to happier stories .....

I've never been to a rodeo before, so if you've been attending them all your life, forgive me while I gush. If I wasn't a happily married woman, I'd totally be a rodeo groupie! In fact, as soon as I'm done with this post I'm off to find when the circuit is coming thru town again.

They announced all the cowboys: Then the announcer turned into a preacher!!! This was a beautiful sight! The announcer all but gave a sermon. He prayed that the Good Lord would keep all the riders safe tonight, that they'd hang on until the ride was over, then he said some other good stuff, and at the end of his prayer, he told everyone in the audience that one day, their ride will be over as well and that they need to be ready. Good stuff. There's a sermon in there somewhere. My sunglasses were hiding the tears that were welling up. Preach on, Mr. Announcer!!

Here's a closeup, just in case you can't believe your eyes. Beautiful, I tell ya!
There was one rider who tarried long after everyone else stood. He kept on praying for many more seconds. And throughout the night, every time he got off a bull, he'd take a knee and pray. Stay tuned till the end of the story .....


This rodeo clown reminded me so much of RV's brother. Actually, both brothers! And I mean that in the best possible way. His jokes and mannerisms were just like both of my BIL's. He totally cracked me up ~ just like they do. Some of the banter that went on between him and the announcer:

Announcer to Clown: "When are we going to get a real clown around here? Clown to Announcer: "When we get a real announcer."

Clown: Did you know WV invented the tooth brush? Yep. You know what it'd be called if it were invented in VA? A teeth brush.

Clown: You know why they call that bull Davey Crockett?
Announcer: No, why do they call him Davey Crockett?
Clown: Because that's his name, Dummy!

There were so many other jokes but I can't remember them. See the resemblance?

Adding to the fun of the evening .... as each cowboy rode his bull, they played some rockin' 80's music. So much fun to sing along and get my groove on. I knew all the words, not like that stuff they play today. And all the songs FIT the mood so well - singing about cowboys & rodeos! Wooooooo doggie! Who knew there were so MANY of those songs?

And this man:

The cowboy who prayed longer than all the others. The one who prayed after he was thrown off each bull. The one who had a big ole cross engrained on the side of his chaps. This cowboy won it all. Oh yes, he did! What a great discussion we had on the way home about that.

So, now I'm off to check all the other nearby county fairs and see if the rodeo is coming to them. Cuz if it is, so are we! Good, clean, family fun. Next time you have the chance to sit thru a rodeo -- do it!!!!!

Oh, and just in case being a Demolition Derby Driver isn't dangerous enough ....... yep, you guessed it ...... now Pop Up wants to be a Rodeo Rider. Sigh.