Sunday, August 1, 1999

 

Yieeeeha!  Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Daddy of ‘em All, was great.  We have to reserve tickets come January 2000 for the Pancake Breakfast.  Pancakes are mixed in a cement mixer truck!   (One of the local businessmen buys a new cement mixer every year and its first use is the pancake breakfast for the CFD.  That’s good to know otherwise one might have a digestive problem.

 

The fellows participating and competing in this rodeo event are full of testosterone.  Riding 3,000 lb bulls is nothing to take lightly.  During this event one rider was downed by the bull and injured.  It looked as though he was kicked in the head.  The announcer stated that he was lightly stepped on the throat and jaw.  That’s putting it lightly…..he was carried out of the arena.  The young steers used in the roping and bulldogging contests really gave the men a run for their money.  They just plain outsmarted them several times.  Let’s hear it for these young steers.  Yeaaaa!

 

Bareback riding must keep the orthopedic men in business.  What an event!  Very entertaining something happens all the time.  They had chuck wagon races and chariot races and wonderful horses going at full gallop.  They are beautiful to watch.  The very last event was with young wide horses.  There were teams of 3’s.  One person would ride and the three of them would try to saddle the horse.  The first one around the track was the winner.  Some easily bucked off the riders.  Some would not budge and some went the wrong way.

 

During one of the bull riding events, one participant was an orthopedic surgeon.  He just plain liked to ride bulls so said the announcer.

 

So if any of you are planning to travel west, keep in mind the last week of July because that is when the Cheyenne Frontier Days takes place.  We are just about 80 miles from Cheyenne and it took us a little over an hour to travel there.

 

A week ago Sunday we caught a Shakespeare Play and Colorado University – “The Merry Wives of Windsor”.  It was done very well, in an updated fashion – taking place in California about 100 years ago.  It was very amusing and a 3 hour long play.  You are given seat cushions and can rent seat backs, but sitting on hard stone benches for 3 hours is a bit long and hard, very very hard.  However, I would go to another play.

 

Next Sunday we have a Mozart concert at Chautauqua and plan to have dinner at the Chautauqua Dining Hall, which  we have been told has a wonderful wrap around porch and very good dining to go along with the spectacular views.

 

This past week I did a lot of planting.  There is a nursery called Village Gardener.  I went there with the intent of asking a bunch of questions and checking out the various types of trees and shrubs, etc. to use in our landscaping next spring.  Instead, I found I could plant some shrubs and did the north side of the house in upright arborvitae and small round globe shaped arborvitae (a yellow green color).  Nice contract with the dark green uprights.  They also had a sale on perennials and I bought a jeep full.  The back is sore, but they look great in the garden. 

 

This past week we have had Connecticut weather.  It has rained substantially and is humid.  Good for planting though!

 

Ken has decided to become a carpenter and spent most of yesterday building a gate for the back deck.  Now that our awning has been installed and we have picked up some deck furniture, it is wonderful to sit out and enjoy coffee or a sip of wine.  However, the gate is to keep the dogs from going down the steep steps, especially Samson.  He would open up his back paws for sure and then bleed substantially. 

 

Last Wednesday I met some of the women from the Newcomer’s Club and we went into Boulder for dinner at Tom’s (a hamburger place) and then roamed about Pearl Street Mall.  This coming Tuesday is the first class in pottery and Wednesday noon is a Newcomer’s Club luncheon at the Longmont Country Club.  Must look at the map to find this place.

 

Hope all is well.

 

Love, Diane and Ken