{"id":3481,"date":"2018-07-01T21:06:24","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T04:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/?p=3481"},"modified":"2018-07-04T14:18:16","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T21:18:16","slug":"island-cowgirls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/island-cowgirls\/","title":{"rendered":"ISLAND COWGIRLS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am here on the Garden Island of Kauai\u2026to decompress.\u00a0 To put a little distance between me and doing, doing, doing.<\/em>\u00a0 To sh-sh-sh\u00a0<\/em>the crazed hamster turning wheelies in my head.\u00a0To tear myself from my cell phone long enough to breathe and not get sucked into another wormhole.\u00a0 I\u2019m here to feel my heart beat.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 To look up at a watercolor sky.\u00a0 To walk barefoot.\u00a0 Somewhere.\u00a0Anywhere.<\/p>\n

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My husband Craig and I are up for a little adventure too.\u00a0 I read about it in the airplane magazine\u2014The Kauai All Girls Rodeo<\/a><\/strong>. This week!<\/p>\n

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Photo by Cali Rose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We follow the GPS to Poipu then rock n\u2019 roll down a rutted dirt road to CJM Country Stables<\/a><\/strong>, park by a horse trailer and slog our pasty pale bodies to the nicely painted stands just as the girls<\/em> ride the flags\u2014U.S., Hawaii, The Kauai All Girls Rodeo Association–around the arena in the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

The \u201ccowgirls,\u201d as they are called by the announcer, are little ones wearing \u201ckid\u201d helmets to older gals, with wind-tousled gray hair that goes all horizontal on their high speed cowponies.\u00a0 A few wear cowboy hats and those hats go flying as the ladies circle the barrels and race for home.\u00a0 The winner does it in 17 seconds; the little girls take longer.\u00a0 Chivalrous cowboys retrieve the chapeaus for the ladies.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We arrive with the can of sunblock we snagged at Wal-Mart in Lihue and my ubiquitous bottle of Gatorade.\u00a0 Even the announcer warns us about the perils of dehydration\u2026<\/p>\n

I think this is my first rodeo.<\/p>\n

But when I was a little girl oh I LOVED horses, ever since I learned to \u201cpost<\/a><\/strong>\u201d on an English saddle in the badlands of Washington D.C.\u00a0 Better known as the bridal trail loop in Rock Creek Park.<\/p>\n

But when the family moved to Los Angeles the best news was that\u00a0<\/em>Western saddle.\u00a0 Oh God there\u2019s something for my little girl hands to grab onto.\u00a0 In those days an hour horse rental at the local stable cost $2.50.\u00a0 I paid in pennies.\u00a0 I\u2019m also lucky to be alive because I wasn\u2019t a very good rider.\u00a0 Nor very smart around large animals.\u00a0 Twice my horse reared up and I went in the opposite direction, landing hard on my butt.\u00a0 Once my horse fell down, on all fours, and took me with him.\u00a0 I scrambled free before he rolled over me.\u00a0 Then there was the time my rental steed took off down a desert ravine, I lost my balance and slid off but caught my foot in the stirrup.\u00a0 I could have been paid big bucks for that nifty trick if I was a stuntwoman.\u00a0 But no\u2026 I just got dragged in the dirt until the horse decided to stop<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Craig and I took a trail ride during our honeymoon in Lake Tahoe and that\u2019s the last time I\u2019ve been on a horse, unless you count the merry-go-round in Santa Monica and Disneyland.\u00a0 It\u2019s been 30 years.<\/p>\n

All these memories wash ashore again as I watch the ladies do their thing. The trade winds feel like soft feathers across my face.\u00a0 The lush green hills and sparkly ocean form this spectacular backdrop for a rodeo, Hawaiian style, where the girls and boys speak Pidgin.\u00a0 Where the island tradition of Paniolo<\/a><\/strong> is honored and carried forth.<\/p>\n

After the opening ceremony the \u201crodeo Zamboni,\u201d which in this case is a flat bed truck pulling a giant metal grill, drives in neat concentric circles around the arena.\u00a0 I am mesmerized by the whole spectacle.\u00a0 And it\u2019s good to smell horses again.<\/p>\n

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Flat-bed Zamboni. Photo by Cali Rose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I cheer on each girl, even if she knocks over a barrel.\u00a0 My stomach drops to my knees as one the young lady is thrown from her horse at the second barrel, right in front of me.\u00a0 She\u2019s laying flat on her back, legs splayed. \u00a0\u00a0She can’t get up.\u00a0 The medics rush in, another cowgirl grabs her loose horse.\u00a0 They know the routine.\u00a0 The announcer tells us that \u201cthese things happen.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

I remember how I walked away from my horsey mishaps, unscathed and very lucky, and am much relieved when the young rider is finally helped to her feet.\u00a0 Strong arms support her as she limps to the gate.<\/p>\n

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\nMy life is very busy.\u00a0 Go cowgirl, go! \u00a0Faster.\u00a0 Faster. \u00a0And then the barrel gets ya\u2026
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\"\"
Look closely at the phone in her pocket. Is that a picture of a horse? Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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We stay for the team calf roping event. There goes a baby cow\u2026or is it a steer\u2026and it\u2019s running, running, taking aim at the opposite end of the arena as two ladies, their ropes spinning in the air, chase after the critter. One cowgirl is supposed to lasso the head and the other is supposed to lasso the hooves. And I\u2019m wondering if the cow is thinking \u201cF**K YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

AND they are being timed how long this all takes, IF they can do it at all.\u00a0 Most of them can\u2019t and one pair of cowgirls actually gets chased by the cow.\u00a0 Really? That got them a free turn.\u00a0 Bad cow!<\/p>\n

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Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Photo by Craig Brandau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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I am fascinated. This is\u2026so\u2026outside my \u201cbubble.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 But my brain is still here, churning butter and trying to figure out HOW things work\u2026\u00a0\u00a0And I\u2019m really curious how the cow knows to RUN in the first place AND to the other side of the arena where it trots into a rather compact metal slot.<\/p>\n

So we pass a couple cowgirls on our way to the car and I mosey over to have a little chat.\u00a0 \u201cHey There!\u00a0 I have a city-slicker question for you\u2026\u201d as I confess ignorance when it comes to animal husbandry. Well they are the nicest ladies and one declares \u201cthat\u2019s a very good question.\u201d What a relief because I\u2019m feeling kind of “bubble-wrapped.”<\/p>\n

So this is what happens:\u00a0 The staff comes early to work with the cows, run them around, show them the exit and all that stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill they remember for the next rodeo?\u201d\u00a0I wonder aloud.<\/p>\n

Apparently they kind of do\u00a0<\/em>remember UNLESS the rodeo is at another arena in which case they have to be \u201cre-educated.\u201d \u00a0I immediately flash on my early piano bar days–when I changed gigs a lot and it was a different piano, in a different room, facing a differing direction, with different people\u2026 well it took me a while to \u201cfind my slot.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is one reason why I recommend people play their ukulele in different places in the house, outside, on a park bench, at your doctor’s office. \u00a0It gets easier to find your slot<\/em>, no matter where you are.<\/p>\n

Just makes good horse sense.<\/p>\n

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\"\"A Little Extra Something:<\/strong> \u00a0Years ago I wrote a song called “I Wish I Was a Cowgirl.” It’s one of my absolute favorites. \u00a0I was stuck in freeway traffic one icky, smoggy afternoon and this country-fantasy daydream stole me away and wrote itself into a song. \u00a0Please click here<\/strong><\/a> to watch the video on YouTube.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am here on the Garden Island of Kauai\u2026to decompress.\u00a0 To put a little distance between me and doing, doing, doing.\u00a0 To sh-sh-sh\u00a0the crazed hamster turning wheelies in my head.\u00a0To tear myself from my cell phone long enough to breathe and not get sucked into another wormhole.\u00a0 I\u2019m here to feel my heart beat.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 To look up at a watercolor sky.\u00a0 To walk barefoot.\u00a0 Somewhere.\u00a0Anywhere.     My husband Craig and I are up for a little adventure too.\u00a0 … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[177,176,178,144],"class_list":["post-3481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentry","tag-cowgirls","tag-horses","tag-i-wish-i-was-a-cowgirl","tag-kauai"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog entry"}],"post_tag":[{"value":177,"label":"cowgirls"},{"value":176,"label":"horses"},{"value":178,"label":"I Wish I Was A Cowgirl"},{"value":144,"label":"Kaua'i"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/cowgirlhorsephone-732x1024.jpg",732,1024,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Cali Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/author\/crbauthor\/"},"comment_info":1,"category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"blog entry","slug":"blogentry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":139,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":139,"category_description":"","cat_name":"blog entry","category_nicename":"blogentry","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":177,"name":"cowgirls","slug":"cowgirls","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":177,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":176,"name":"horses","slug":"horses","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":176,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":178,"name":"I Wish I Was A Cowgirl","slug":"i-wish-i-was-a-cowgirl","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":178,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":144,"name":"Kaua'i","slug":"kauai","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":144,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3481"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3549,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481\/revisions\/3549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}