Send me on Your way.: Well, this IS my first time at the rodeo!

On Saturday, Gabby, our breakfast buddy, started talking about his days as a cowboy, competing in rodeos all over the United States. He described the different events that he participated in and how much he missed his "ropin'" days. Growing up without a lot of older relatives around, I relish any opportunity to hear people share their stories of their glory days. Picturing this sweet 75 year old man hopping on a horse and wrestling down some crazy steer? Priceless.

On Sunday, after church, Gabby asked if I was working in the afternoon, since he wanted to go to the rodeo happening about 45 minutes from Pine Ridge. I jumped at the opportunity! We went to my first Indian rodeo in Martin, South Dakota. We got there a bit late, but saw several rounds of barrel racing, team roping, steer riding and bull riding. It was really fun to watch the team roping with Gabby, since that was one of his favorite events.

For those of you city folk who have never been to a rodeo, team roping is when you have two people on horseback who literally chase down a steer. The first cowboy/girl, the header, lassos the rope to try to hook both the horns. The heeler cowboy/girl then lassos the rope to get the back feet together. If they do it correctly, you should see the head, then the feet, then a split second where the cow is stretched out mid-air, then it drops to the ground. Once it hits, it moves it's feet and it's free. The competition is based on how fast you can do this. I want to say that one of the fastest ones was six seconds or so, but I could be mistaken.

Gabby and I took a spot right in front of the ring, next to the spot where they released the steers from. It was pretty awesome to be up close and personal with the action! I probably stuck out a bit, since I was wearing flip-flops (rodeo fashion faux pas), bright pink Aviator sunglasses and the religious t-shirt that our current retreat group insisted that I wear. Gabby was also wearing this t-shirt, so we probably looked like an odd duo. I tried to ask questions quietly, so I wouldn't look like so much of a newbie. I know that I didn't stick out as much as the guy who moved here recently from Spain and lives in his van. He went to a laundromat on Saturday, found out about the rodeo and showed up Sunday with a nice camera to photograph the action. When he walked away, one of the old cowboys came over and asked if he was with PETA. Hah.

In addition to the joy of the rodeo, we haven't had rain in...forever here, so it's rather dry...and dusty. I picked dirt out of my ears and eyes the whole ride home. I had dirt caked in my hair and all over my face. If I wiped my cheek with my sleeve, it was brown.

Many of my seminary classmates spent Sunday afternoon taking a "liturgical nap." I'm okay with giving up that nap to spend it with a 75 year old Lakota cowboy at a true Indian rodeo.

Here are some shots from the day: