Missing the Rodeo....

This morning as I drove to school I was entertained by an old George Straight song. It put me in the best mood! It made my mind wander to my hometown and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

It's rodeo time again and I sadly did not get on the ball and get tickets this year. Darn! Well, let me clarify, I never have directly bought tickets to the Rodeo performances, but usually people who are a) members of some kind of country federation/rodeo board or b) more organized than I am get tickets early and they invite me.



When I was in 3rd grade my family went with another family to see Reba perform. I was fuh-reaked out. The Astrodome wreaked something awful due to all the barnyard animals taking over and everyone was wearing Wranglers! Ew. So I swore off the Rodeo for about 10 years until I was in college....


I don't know if it was me or the miraculous advances in Rodeo entertainment, but I loved it now! Since the early 2000s I've been going to the shows every year (except this one) and have enjoyed watching performers like Beyonce, Maroon 5, John Mayer, Taylor Swift, Pat Green, Clay Walker, and Martina McBride--to name a few.



For those of you who do not know, the point of the Rodeo is to enjoy food, drink and music. Headlining performers do their show after an hour or so of traditional rodeo games. There are horseback riding races, bucking broncos, and the hilarious muttin' bustin'--toddlers get strapped to a baby sheep that takes off and the toddler holds on for dear life, haha. With the backdrop of crafts and carnival lights, you get to eat sausage, funnel cake, barbecue and anything you want FRIED. I'm not kidding.

Let me take you back to the Rodeo Disaster of 2007. My friend Patti and I decided to try all these fried foods offered at the rodeo fair--I'm talking fried twinkies, fried snickers, fried coke, and our favorite--fried oreos (this was after sharing an entire bag of dark chocolates and sausage on a stick). Needless to say, my stomach was not pleased....but my heart sure was! It's probably a good thing we didn't ride any of the carnival rides that year.



The fun and friendly faces seen at the Rodeo really highlight Houston's pride and diversity in culture. For some reason fried foods and live music really bring people together! They may be wearing different clothes and sitting in different seats but the Sugarlanders, Baytonians, River Oaks-ers, etc can all get on board with sausage on an stick.