Philothea
Life in the JVC

Bull riding

April 12, 2005

To him, the country was not empty, but remote and secluded, even intimate if you were alone. Much of the time, if you were off the roads and highways, you could not see any signs of man's making and you were alone or with friends. Even with friends, if no one spoke, you were alone with your thoughts and your eyes. And you saw plenty, in spite of what newcomers and tourists said. They didn't see the colors, the shades and shapes, of the prairies, the various grasses and brushes, the occasional animal that made it all worth it. A place where you saw a badger or a golden eagle would be there always in your mind, even if you were a thousand miles away.
James Welch, The Indian Lawyer

I had a blast in Billings, although now I have $1.75 to last me the rest of the month. We all went down there with Tim to see the Professional Bull Riders Series in Billings. It was good to go with a real cowboy, because none of us had ever watched bull riding before. Tim and a friend are talking about getting into raising bulls for riding. They're still stuck in the stage of what they're going to name it, so its mostly a pipe dream, I think. It was more exciting than I thought it would be, but I'm not sure I can get totally behind it. Most of the riders were just wearing cowboy hats on their heads. It's guaranteed that you will be bucked, and then you have a very large angry bull coming at you. Can you imagine if football players didn't wear helmets? Adriano Moraes got a horn through the ear, and Zack Brown got stomped on the stomach by his bull, and that was just this weekend. They say its only a matter of time before a bull rider gets seriously hurt. There's no chance of avoiding it for good. They take a very fatalistic view of things.

Then we drove home with the sunset on our left. It takes a long time for it to get really dark out here. I'm trying to memorize it all in my mind before I go back to the East, with the cities and forests. Before I came out here, I had seen a few pictures of Western sunsets, but I thought they were taking artistic license. I didn't realize that it was really that beautiful. But my brother Liam just got accepted into a grad school program in Missoula, so I figure I have a good excuse to come back and visit for at least seven more years, since he's getting a Ph.D in math. He's coming two months after I leave. Isn't that always the way?

10:37 p.m.
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