182/365

BW Bronc Rider

Bronc riding event at the rodeo.

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Barrel Racer

Barrel Racing event at the Coleman Rodeo in Coleman, Texas.

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Bronc Rider

One of the events at the Coleman Rodeo in Coleman, Texas.

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Rodeo Roping

I went to a rodeo last night and got home too late to post.  So here's a pic for yesterday.

I just have one two things to say.

I LOVE rodeos

Cowboys are beautiful

This was a roping event.  I had to put my camera on a high iso, so that's why it's a little grainy, but I'd rather get a slightly grainy photo than no photo at all.

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Jungle Bounce House

This afternoon the weather got really beautiful so I decided to make another trip to the zoo.  I didn't realize that there was some event going on there. There were a lot of families there with their kiddos and presentations happening throughout the zoo grounds. It was so good to see all the kids having such a good time.

This bounce house was right inside the entrance.  I've never seen one like it before, so of course I had to make a few images of it.  

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Calf Roping

This was an indoor venue and the camera self-adjusted to the necessary settings, so the image isn't great but it tells the story.

I LOVE rodeos and cowboys.

It was a good night.

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9/11 Tribute

This is an older, much older, image from 2015.  I was looking through some of my older posts and came across this one and several more from the same shoot.  The post was created in 2015, the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.

Many towns throughout the United States held/hold a "Stair Climb" as close to 9/11 as possible in honor of the responders who died that day.  This one was in Utica, NY at the tallest building.  Not sure how many flights it is, but the participates go up and down as many times as necessary to replicate the Twin Towers.

Each participant wears one or two name tags of a responder who died that awful day and at the end of the climb they post the name tag on a central viewing board for everyone to see.

If you can navigate to it, the post was in 2015 on Sept 11 where you'll see more photos of the event participants.  It's actually a full weekend of different events.  

I attended the event for several years and there wasn't one time when I didn't shed a tear or two while there.

My heart is grateful for:

selfless men and women

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Rodeo Clown and Bull

An event at the annual West Texas Fair and Rodeo in Abilene, Texas

My heart is grateful today for:

bringing leftover food home from church after the weekend Presbytery, so now I don't have to cook for a few days!!!  win-win

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Bronc Rider

Another rodeo.

My heart is grateful for:

Talking on the phone today with a friend I haven't seen in a long time

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Getting ready to open the Chute

My heart is grateful for:

a walk along the lake this morning with two good friends

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The Rodeo

There's an annual rodeo in Coleman, TX which is one of the only outdoor rodeos that's anywhere near to me.  I've been several times and just love it.  It begins at 8 pm so there's still enough light to get some good photos even though I don't have the best lens for low light.  I considered renting one for the event, but I have a lot of bigger bills that come due in June, so I just dealt with what I have.

Fortunately, the first event, while still pretty light, is the bronc riding.  I had a difficult time deciding which "one" image to use for this post.  So here ya go.

I'm grateful for:

living where cowboys still rock the world

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Victorian Stroll

This image is from a few years ago in Troy, NY.  The Victorian Stroll was (and maybe still is) a yearly event during the first weekend in December.  

There's nothing like that around where I live now, sigh.

My heart is grateful for: 

a trip I'll soon be taking with two friends