Sunday, February 17, 2008

Rodeo Time in Tucson

Tucson is hopping this week with two styles of competition. Wild West at one end, and sophisticated golfing on luxurious greens at the other. Northwest at Dove Mountain you'll find the golfers (yes, Tiger is here). And down south you'll find the cowpokes decked in their finest, all here for the 83rd annual Fiesta de los Vaqueros. It's a spectacle and a mesh of true grit, fun, culture and sport all rolled into a wonderful Tucson tradition.

Last summer we went to a small, local rodeo about 30 miles south of Tucson. The stands were alive with families and fans. Everyone was dressed in traditional western attire - jeans, hand-tooled boots, embroidered work shirts and of course great hats. There were bolla ties, belt buckles and turquoise everywhere. Neighbors cheered for local favorites. Everyone showed great respect for their animals - horses and cattle - beloved partners in these great shows. How colorful a tradition this is!

I'll post more later this week. For now (on a Sunday evening after a very full weekend), I just wanted to tip my hat as Tucson begins a week of fun and good sport. And I wanted to salute the traditions of the west that are celebrated by the rodeos this week. May the all-American pride shown this week never die. (photo taken at last summer's local rodeo in Sonoita).

5 comments:

Leigh said...

What a great post. Love the stuff you wrote about the enduring traditions. And I hope that they continue to endure and with people like yourself appreciating them, they will.
Nice!
Say..... who took that picture?

James Boehme said...

Grate picture takening.

Unknown said...

See, I can take pix, too, even with a lowly coolpix 5700!

stevesurf said...

See, you were always the better photographer! Nice entry; I think you'll have to now teach a course in blogging, most likely as I will be trying to douse the flames on a new eGroup...

You know, as I was riding through the rain today, it kind of came to me why you blog...

...here's to leaving 'em hanging :)

Peggy said...

How did you (or Leigh?) capture such a perfectly choreographed image of FOUR riders holding flags? This is superb!