Stock Show!
Today I went down to the 100th annual National Western Stock Show to do some time volunteering for a work booth and then hit the rodeo. Honestly, I wasn't that excited about it - lots of work, dirt, whatever. However, what happened to me today at the show. I got to do some significant people watching and help people understand something that I think is really important (my work). I stood there watching people thinking about the 100 years of history and Colorado heritage that the show represents and propagates.
As an immigrant and a member of a family of mixed descent, I have always been a little apprehensive to talk about my culture and background. Not because I'm not proud of my family and our history, but it's so mixed that it's always been hard to identify a single something to point to. What I realized today is that the 19 years that I spent in Colorado growing up is my heritage - it is my culture. It was amazing to stand there and feel so at home with people selling feed, western wear (boots!), livestock and other things that farms and ranchers need that I have no clue about. Every time I looked up from my post I thought I could catch a quick glimpse of the scene 100 years ago in same place. Other than the booths marketing GPS tracking for herds, I'm convinced not much has changed.
The next stop, the rodeo, was another example of this. It was 2.5 hours of bronco riding, mutton bustin', barrel riding, cattle roping, and a mix of other things that I had no idea were done on the farm. It was 2.5 hours in which I remembered that this is the world I grew up in. Sure, I grew up in the suburbs, but it was still Denver, still and always, a cow town. A great Cow Town.
There is something else, too. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole Stock Show thing. I'm not that comfortable with the wrestling of cattle to the ground, or much of the political commentary that I overheard from my booth perch. There are two sides to everything.
As an immigrant and a member of a family of mixed descent, I have always been a little apprehensive to talk about my culture and background. Not because I'm not proud of my family and our history, but it's so mixed that it's always been hard to identify a single something to point to. What I realized today is that the 19 years that I spent in Colorado growing up is my heritage - it is my culture. It was amazing to stand there and feel so at home with people selling feed, western wear (boots!), livestock and other things that farms and ranchers need that I have no clue about. Every time I looked up from my post I thought I could catch a quick glimpse of the scene 100 years ago in same place. Other than the booths marketing GPS tracking for herds, I'm convinced not much has changed.
The next stop, the rodeo, was another example of this. It was 2.5 hours of bronco riding, mutton bustin', barrel riding, cattle roping, and a mix of other things that I had no idea were done on the farm. It was 2.5 hours in which I remembered that this is the world I grew up in. Sure, I grew up in the suburbs, but it was still Denver, still and always, a cow town. A great Cow Town.
There is something else, too. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole Stock Show thing. I'm not that comfortable with the wrestling of cattle to the ground, or much of the political commentary that I overheard from my booth perch. There are two sides to everything.
posted by Mom and Dad at 7:39 PM
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