Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Cowboy up
Sunday was a day of good, wholesome, shit kicking fun for this Yankee. I covered a team penning competition in Gonzales, La. (yes, that's how they spell it here) Since no one outside of Sera probably has a clue what team penning is, I will briefly explain. Basically three riders are assigned three cows which they must find out of a herd of 30. They then must corral those three, and only those three, into a small metal pen. It's like ranching for prize money and it's actually a lot of fun to watch.
I don't know if I felt more out of place walking around Southern, our local black university, or this event (though I think the tie-breaker is my African American heritage, which really helped me blend at Southern).
Everyone was in cowboy hats, big ol' belt buckles, shit kickers with spurs and cheeks swollen with chew abounded. But everyone was friendly to the little Jew with a golf shirt and notepad.
So I got paid to hang out with a bunch of cowboys for four hours, learn about a totally foreign sport and watch the competition. Not bad. I didn't even mind the absolutely unbearable heat and stench in the un-airconditioned arena in mid-afternoon (the nice thing about the climate here is that it is perfectly acceptable to visibly sweat through your clothes and carry on with your business).
Here's the link to the article, if you're interested. It ends very abruptly because, for some reason, the on-line folks cut the last inch off the story, which kind of fucked it up, but overall it wrote itself and I think turned out pretty decent. As always, feedback is welcomed, even if it's, "Jesus Christ, Heath, what made you write like such a douche bag."
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/062104/new_father001.shtml
I don't know if I felt more out of place walking around Southern, our local black university, or this event (though I think the tie-breaker is my African American heritage, which really helped me blend at Southern).
Everyone was in cowboy hats, big ol' belt buckles, shit kickers with spurs and cheeks swollen with chew abounded. But everyone was friendly to the little Jew with a golf shirt and notepad.
So I got paid to hang out with a bunch of cowboys for four hours, learn about a totally foreign sport and watch the competition. Not bad. I didn't even mind the absolutely unbearable heat and stench in the un-airconditioned arena in mid-afternoon (the nice thing about the climate here is that it is perfectly acceptable to visibly sweat through your clothes and carry on with your business).
Here's the link to the article, if you're interested. It ends very abruptly because, for some reason, the on-line folks cut the last inch off the story, which kind of fucked it up, but overall it wrote itself and I think turned out pretty decent. As always, feedback is welcomed, even if it's, "Jesus Christ, Heath, what made you write like such a douche bag."
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/062104/new_father001.shtml
