header-photo

Friday, March 20, 2009

Heritage and culture...western style


We went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Monday evening with my sister and brother-in-law. Lord have mercy it was fun. We met this cowboy as we were walking up to the entrance. I asked if I could take his picture, and he said he was just waiting for me to ask! Then he had to rope my sister to prove what a true cowboy he was. He also muttered something about people not knowing what "Ride 'em cowboy meant since that old brokeback movie came out." And we giggled. Can you tell?

First we went to the livestock show. Ah...the smell of farm animals assaulted our senses as soon as we entered the building. I seriously love that smell. I wouldn't use it as perfume or anything, but that smell comes with memories. And I love that.


We went through the breed barn where we learned the difference in Angus, Hereford, Brahman, and Longhorn bulls among others. This one is a longhorn. I know, I know. You are amazed at the knowledge I acquired.


There were also goats. Plain ol' regular ones and


Angora ones. This lovely lady, Miss Priscilla, was being very unladylike and using her horns to scratch her back. She wouldn't pose for a picture at all!

There were

brown pigs


and pink pigs.


And then there was this pig.

We also went through the Birthing Center where we saw lots of baby chicks,


a one day old calf,


and cute little suckling pigs.

We browsed the shops where you could get just about any western item you might want. Tables made of tree stumps, armadillo lamps, star shaped jewelry, and of course belts, boots, and hats.


Good cow, how I wanted a hat. And boots.


But I settled for a silver star pendant.

After the seeing, smelling, and shopping we moseyed on over to the rodeo.


Would you just look at that? Seriously. I love it.

We saw all the main rodeo events. Bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie down roping, barrel racing,


saddle bronc riding, and of course






We had so much fun that Brian and I decided that we needed to take the kids to the rodeo before it left town. We decided that they had experienced all kinds of Turkish culture, and now it was time to learn about some of their own heritage. Rodeo.

We went on Wednesday since it was a value day. This time we went early enough to enjoy the carnival as well as the livestock show and rodeo. Despite being there for hours I only managed to take three pictures.


This one


This one


And this one. Yes we tried something from this list of fried confections. Deep Fried Oreos. Now I'm not a fan of regular Oreos. They taste kind of like a burnt chocolate cookie to me. I think I would have much rather had a fried pickle or a fried Snickers. Next year...next year!

9 comments:

Mamadallama said...

Thank you! It was almost like being there, Natalie. Poor little piggie though. He's been crossed out! I admire your restraint in purchasing plus I vote for the fried green tomatoes or the fried snickers. Yikes, fried cheesecake though? For some reason that (along with the fried keylime pie) just sounds really really wrong.

WakeGrace said...

ive had fried cheesecake ( whoa its rich.) fried twinkie ( i couldnt even finish it) and a fried snickers which melted in my mouth after it exploded. hahah all were insanely rich but delicious. :)

Anonymous said...

Anything that's fried that isn't usually fried; I will NOT eat it. You always manage to amuse me.

Irrational Dad said...

What??? Oreos are delicious! Especially with milk. As a matter of fact, I may go buy some this afternoon.

Kayseri Protestan Kilisesi said...

Fried Pickles are amazing! You would love them. I had them one time at a Bluegrass Concert with my dad. I could go for one right now-tasty!

Tamara said...

I agree with Mamadallama, this was just like being there...I can almost smell it, and it reminds me of my childhood!

Jason, as himself said...

Well, it just doesn't get any more Texan than that!

Andrea said...

It has been sooooo long since I have been to the Houston Livestock Show. I remember seeing Phil Collins there.

It seems that the booth personnel would fry anything and everything. I wouldn't get too close :). I actually tried a friend Mars bar at a bazaar here. Ugh. And this is coming from a chocolate lover.

Amy said...

We went to that same fried everything booth. We got the snickers, oreos and cheesecake and all had a taste. My favorite was the oreos, Stephanie liked the snickers best. Caleb and Brian favored the cheesecake. (me and steph didn't taste the cheesecake) We decided that if we ever had a food booth at the rodeo it needed to be one that fried stuff. Their line was like 40 people deep and the ones around them hardly had lines at all. --Brian said he didn't like the oreo because it looked like a corn dog so his brain was not expecting sweet. That's just crazy talk to me...