It's bulls and blood, it's dust and mud,
It's the roar of a "Tuesday" crowd.
The white in his knuckle, the gold in his buckle,
He'll win the next go round.
It's boots and shafts, it's cowboy hats,
It's spurs and a lot of gall,
It's the ropes and the reins and the joys and the pains,
And they call the things RODEO . . .
(Garth Brooks, Rodeo)
An anticipating chill went down my back when I heard that the theme for our last week at the Arkansas Children's Hospital would be Rodeo. For eight long months, I have driven my team to the bottle by filling their "country' barren minds with the works of such fine artists as, The Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks, George Strait, The Judds . . . Only to be shot down whith a rolling of the eyes or screams of protest. While I have just recently tipped the scales for some to join the country side, many have profoundly stood their ground. But, alas . . . a chance to go to a place where people will actually think I'm cool for listening to country and thinking big muddy trucks are the epitome of sexy.

As fate would have it, the Arkansas State Fair happened to run while we were in Little Rock, fully equipped wiht lots of cows, "vomit comets," corn dogs and most importantly . . . cowboys. The Arkansas Children's Hospital scheduled the kist to come out to the Rodeo during a practice night and get a chance to meed the cowboys and try their hand at roping.

In the end, I'm not really sure who had more fun. The kids had a blast participating int he different events, all donning cowboy hats, Wrangler stickers and bandannas. But, amidst all of the activity, a random Gold 4 member would be seen jumping out of a barrell, riding a broom with a horse head, petting the livestock or learning to lasso. By the time the evening was over and we all jumped into the van, the y'alls ran rampant and nobody balked when I stealthily changed to station Cat Country 101.