The Morning Show with Mike & Susan

I was working my committee at the HLSR this week.  I’m a Gatekeeper.  You encounter us at the gates to the grounds, the stadium gates and even inside in the aisles for the rodeo and concert.  We’re the ones dressed in Black hats and bright red vests.

Last night after working outside at the Comcast gate checking tickets and greeting our guests.  I was pulled inside to work what are called the Action Seats.  They are just what they sound like, so close to the Action that you can taste the dirt when the cowboys gallop by!  Well, I got to stand right up against the fence last night to the arena and as the Chuck Wagon races started, you could actually feel the ground shake with the thud of the horses’ hooves as they galloped past.  I was so close I could taste the dirt as it flew up….now normally that would be a problem, but I loved it!  I had dirt in my teeth from the arena at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo! I was proud to smile with my dirt in my teeth!  I love this time of year, it’s so quintessential Texas and Americana.

I love the families who come in dressed in their best western hats,boots and belts, looking like what most of the rest of the country thinks we always dress like.  I love seeing the faces of the kids as they watch the huge bulls jumping out of the shoots.  I love the dirty faced kids in the Calf Scramble as the kids wrestle those calves and work so hard to earn their calf for next year. 

This is not a perfect event, but this is a great time for families and Houstonians to enjoy our shared Texas culture!  From the African American Trail Riders to the Go Tejano Days to the Mutton Busters, this is a little taste of who we are…a multicultural group who all live under the distinctive name Texans.

Did I say I love this time of year!?