Cowboy Up!

Springtime means only one thing in Limestone County: RODEO!

And the Limestone County Sheriff's Rodeo is a wonderful event, particularly for the kids like Jared who are disabled and usually are on the sidetracks of life watching everything pass by at a high rate of speed.

We went out to the Rodeo grounds about 9:30 in the morning to participate with the other kids in his class and all of the 'special' guests who had been invited from the area. Schools and organizations that serve the needs of the handicapped youth and adults from our area brought buses and vans filled with eager participants.

Cowboys, rodeo clowns and the Queen of the Rodeo were all at the ready to make sure that each one of these participants went home with memories and smiles.

Jared loved his time there. We did the fishing pond and rode the hayride. Jared watched while some of his friends rode the horses. He got a horse painted on his right cheek and won a little stuffed horse from the fishing pond. While we were there, Jared had his photo taken with the Queen, got her autograph on a beautiful photo of her wearing her crown, and enjoyed his time just soaking in the atmosphere that makes it all great. We waved to the riders and smiled at the clowns.

Although the day was chilly, the warmth of the people who took the time to make this day fun for my son and so many other like him who are less able in visible ways was undeniable. Sometimes, you have to go beyond the norm to achieve something good.

In this case, I have to say, the people who organize and prepare all year for this event have done something more: they have achieved a measure of greatness. They have opened their hearts to the people who are truly a representation of the meek and lowly in our world.

God bless cowboys! Though the cowboys are rough and tough and strong so that they can handle the animals that make the rodeo such a heart-pounding, thrill-a-minute draw, underneath that rough exterior beats a heart filled with a kind of love and compassion that can't be seen by most folks.

Unless they came to the Exceptional Rodeo Friday.

That's the one place that the heart of the American Cowboy is seen in all of its red, white and blue American glory.

It just doesn't get any better.

Pajamas and email

While I normally do a great deal of email every single day, there are times of the day in which I prefer to be in my pajamas for the effort. Virtually every school day, I am in PJ's or my bathrobe for the first few mails of the morning.

I wonder if that is reflected in my answers?

Do they bring on a spell of yawning for the recipients (or is that a natural consequence of reading what I wrote)?

Then there are the times, like now, when I am not only completely dressed, but reasonably coherent. It's Sunday and we all have to be out of the house early for meetings before the meetings.

While I can't lay claim to the content of my messages being any less yawn inspiring, I can at least grab the brass ring and shout out that I am dressed and ready to go, including hair and makeup.

That in and of itself is a major accomplishment since I am not a 'girly girl' who really likes the hair and makeup gig.

But, having said that, I realize that there are times when certain dress and behaviors are expected for certain things.

So what is considered email dressing?

Suits and ties? Slacks and a nice silk blouse?

Pin striped pajamas?

Semi-clean bathrobe?

And, assuming there is a dress code secretly enforced in email sending and receiving, who gets to determine what is considered appropriate?

While I completely understand that pajamas are not considered workwear for the successful business person (unless they work for a pj making factory), I have to wonder what constitutes appropriate attire for various occassions.

I remember years ago receiving an invitation to a reception which indicated that the dress was black tie. Having been raised by a genteel Southern woman, I instinctively knew that wasn't referring to women wearing ties, but rather to formal wear.

We didn't attend the event.

Not because we didn't know the people or wouldn't have enjoyed an evening out, but rather, I don't OWN anything that formal.

Sometimes our opportunities in life are determined by our clothing.

I am glad, that at least for the time being, that we don't have some governmental department of clothing. I expect it any day now. Fashion police will not only be free to be snarky in magazines and on cable programs, but they will be free to actually impose penalties for improper wear for public and private functions.

Soon, I'll find that I am no longer able to stroll to my mailbox in my bathrobe for fear that I will find myself ambushed with cameras rolling in a fashion hostage crisis from the deep ditch in my own front yard.

Boldly broadcasting my fabric and color matching shortcomings during prime time, my lack of fashion sense will earn me some horrible penalty which I am unable to pay - like sewing individual sequins in a garish pattern on a prom dress.

Lacking both the sewing skills and the sequins required for the job, I will be confined to the forced labor of sweeping up after the rodeo horse parade on a hot summer day.

But for now, contentedly I eat my breakfast in my PJ's and read the mail both consequential and inconsequential that fills my e-box today. I am safe. For now.