JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time

Yee-haw, Part II

Back to bull riding...

I think I must have a brain built for odd trivia. While bull riding is not my thing, I was simply intrigued to learn about a whole new world I didn't know existed. This event has a huge fan base, a whole set of vocabulary, complex rules, and lots of history yet is something I'd never bumped into before aside from occasional images on TV.

Here are the basics according to the printed program:
1. "Watch the Clock -- Eight seconds is all that matters. Nothing less counts. The clock starts when the bull's shoulder or flank breaks the plane of the gate. It ends when the rider's hand comes out of the rope, the rider slaps the bull with his free arm, or the rider touches the ground.

2. Watch the Bull -- Half the ride score is up to the bull. A lousy bull means a lousy ride. Look for drop in the front end and kick in the back. A good bull will also change direction -- not left and right, but north, south, east, and west.

3. Watch the Free Arm -- The free arm is used for balance but may not touch the bull or the rider at any point. If it does, the clock stops and the rider is disqualified.

4. Watch the Feet -- There's more to a good ride than just hanging on. Keep an eye on the rider's chaps; the fringe helps highlight the movement of his legs."

The funny thing is that after watching a bit, Brian and I both got so we could predict the score to some degree. Renato Nunes of Brazil won first place with a score of 88.25. (There are four judges who can grant 25 points each. Half the score is earned by the rider and half by the bull.) The highest ever score was a 96.5 and any score over 90 points is considered a "home run." We saw 48 rides and of those, 27 times the bull won, bucking off his rider. I kinda like this ratio since the cowboys sign up for the game but the bulls don't.

Like race horses, the bulls are expensive investments that are handled carefully and bred for a good ride. (Although a challenging bull makes it harder for a rider, he also helps increase the score.) Some of the bulls have funny names -- Dog Pile, Alfalfa, Big Red Truck, Speed Trap, Hair Trigger, and Pogo. Some of the bulls' names are a bit more poetic -- Apache Leap, Dark Knight, Little Lightning, Snake Oil, and Air Wolf.

Once the rider comes off, the rodeo clowns have the job of distracting the bull so the rider can run (or limp) away.

If you've watched ice hockey or ice skating, you know that the Zamboni is a machine that comes out halfway through and smoothes out the ice. It amused me that in bull riding, they send out a machine to smooth out the dirt. While it was working, they flew a huge balloon in the shape of a bull that was powered by battery-powered fans and steered by remote control. It flew all through the arena. Man, I want one! Wouldn't that be fun on a calm, non-breezy day...or a walk through the mall?

I was curious how well the bulls are taken care of and how they are treated. Here is a statement on the Professional Bull Riders website: PBR -- Bull

Yee-haw!

Our Internet connection is finally back up! Wow, I missed it. The Comcast guy said a power cord on one of their components went bad, so it was quickly fixed. Yee-haw to having the Web again! But also yee-haw to Friday night's adventure....

Brian was asked to represent the military at an event on Friday night. That ended up falling through, but we were allowed to keep the tickets. Since Friday night is currently our "Date Night," we decided it would be fun to go anyway and see something entirely new -- the rodeo. I pulled out the cowgirl boots I got on my last trip to Texas and off we went.

I didn't know anything about the event other than the fact it was a rodeo at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. It turned out that it was actually a PBR -- Professional Bull Riders -- event. That's when a cowboy (who looks young enough that you wonder if he has a driver's license) straps himself to an unhappy bull that weighs between 1,500 and 2,200 pounds. I'd always felt very bad for the bulls when I saw such things on TV, but I can tell you that they definitely weren't getting the worst of it on Friday night.

I couldn't resist pointing the camera down for a picture. Here's my viewpoint Friday night -- my cowgirl boots seen over the big lump that is Jelly Tot.

When we entered the arena, it looked as though it were set up for a rock concert. I imagine rodeo-type events have come a long way. Now there are light systems, fog machines, sound effects, pounding music, and such. Before the show, they drive trucks and all-terrain vehicles through the arena, spinning their wheels and throwing up showers of dirt. (On the dirt floor they spelled out USA in a gunpowder-like substance and set it alight.)

They have pyrotechnics too -- fireballs big enough that you can feel the repercussion and warmth from the audience. I jumped about a mile, but Jelly Tot didn't seem to mind a bit. Later in the evening, he got very wiggly, but he seemed to sleep through all the loud stuff at the beginning.

More about the PBR event tomorrow....

Internet Down

I never think about how attached I am to e-mail and blogging until they are suddenly unavailable.  The Internet isn't working at our place and tech support won't arrive until at least tomorrow.  (I'm typing this quick message on a borrowed system.)  I'll be back as soon as I can.

Cheerio!

Jelly Tot Clothes

Brian is six feet one inch tall. I'm just shy of five foot nine. We're guessing Jelly Tot is going to grow up tall. Having seen my nephews go from tiny pink bundles to strapping young men, I know the process. But it still amazes me. I'm still trying to picture Jelly Tot as more than a fuzzy ultrasound image.

We've taken to hanging some of Jelly Tot's clothes around the house simply because it helps him seem more real. (You know, more real than someone bouncing up and down inside you when you're trying to nap.) We've discovered we have definite themes in baby clothes. Brian gravitates towards the little suits that look like baseball outfits. Me? I don't know why I'm a sucker for little stripey suits. Maybe it's a Sesame Street Ernie & Bert thing. But Brian and I both like outfits where the manufacturer has made the feet into little faces. It makes me laugh just thinking of a baby with dogs or teddy bears on his little feet. And then there are the hats with ears. We have two of those and can't wait to take pictures of Jelly Tot in them that will make him cringe when he's sixteen.

Testing Recipes

Bonjour!

Is anybody out there interested in testing some recipes for fun? As space (and editors) allow, I'll be including some recipes in my book. I'm testing all of them to make sure the instructions work right and the food tastes good. (Most of the recipes are old family favorites, so I've had great luck thus far.) Some are older recipes with admittedly sketchy directions, so even if I've made it before, it is very helpful to have questions, comments, suggestions, and tips from additional cooks. Unfortunately, I can't pay anybody to be chefs (and guinea pigs), but I will credit my recipe testers in the acknowledgments section of the book. Let me know if you're interested via e-mail or by leaving a comment and I'll send you the recipe you'd like to make. All the recipes left to test are for sweet and/or baked items:

1-2-3-4 Lemon Pourover Cake (butter cake with lemon glaze)
1-2-3-4 Pineapple Pourover Cake (butter cake with pineapple glaze)
1-2-3-4 Orange Pourover Cake (butter cake with orange glaze)
Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Icing
French Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze
Lemon Pie
Oatmeal Cookies
Baking Powder Biscuits
Milk Chocolate Gravy (to put on biscuits)
Dark Chocolate Gravy (to put on biscuits)
Boiled Custard
Pecan Divinity

Tea Olives and Surrogate Family

Ever had one of those days that was the best of times but crummy times too, all lumped into one odd day? Yesterday I got some bad news that was quite unwelcome and Brian was sick. But the day was flooded with such wonderful things too. A neighbor stopped by with fresh tomatoes from her garden. The mail lady stopped by to chat a while with me and we're becoming buddies of a sort. Then on my walk, I suddenly smelled something wonderful and so familiar that it brought me to a complete halt and brought tears to my eyes. We had a tea olive bush when I was growing up and I associate the smell of its blooms with all things Southern and homey. It is a nondescript plant -- just dark green leaves and tiny little flowers you'd never notice if they didn't smell so wonderful. I can't quite describe why, but finding one of my very favorite plants here was a deep comfort.
Tea Olive Information

The best news of all is that longtime friends came to visit yesterday! I've known Janet and Rex since elementary school and their daughter has been one of my best friends since childhood. Janet played the music at my wedding (as well as at my parents' funerals long ago) and this couple have been like an aunt and uncle to me for years. They were in this part of the country in their RV and came out of their way to see us. It was such a nice afternoon of eating outside on the shady patio, a long house tour, and just chatting. Janet helped me sort out the baby clothes so I now know what I have and in what sizes. As with the tea olive, I can't quite describe why that was such a deeply welcome help, but it truly was. I've been missing my parents a lot since getting pregnant and then missing my network of family and friends while I'm so far away at present. It was a gift to have these well-loved and familiar people here to share our new lives for long, welcome hours.

Rocking Chair

We got a new rocking chair this weekend! Of course I still love the old rocking chair that belonged to Great Grandma Reaves, the one I have pictures of my mother rocking me in as a newborn. It is in my writing room and I will certainly rock my son in it. But it has plain runners and doesn't do very well on carpet. We bought a glider rocker with a glider hassock, which truly does glide and will be great for feeding and soothing the baby when he comes. It will go in the baby's room...but it was so darned comfortable that we decided to put up with a crowded den and put it in there until the baby arrives. We got one that reclines and truly it is amazingly cozy. I'm getting to that stage where I don't sit in the same seat for more than a half hour without getting uncomfortable. I can sit much longer in the rocker. I have a little money left that came from my parents and will take the price of the chair out of that account. I know my parents would be so excited to have another grandchild on the way and I'm betting my mother would have bought such a rocker for us. She always made sure to have a rocking chair or two in the house and if there was no rocker to be had, she would hum and sway a little in a regular chair. So I will think of Mom often when I rock.

There may be an added bonus to having the rocker in the den. Let's get Jelly Tot used to the motion now! I have one niece whose parents bought a similar rocker before she was born, but she hated being rocked. That would be hard on me! So I'm training Jelly Tot to like it. In fact, I've already been doing that. If he gets particularly wiggly during the day, I stop working for a little bit and sit in Great Grandma Reaves' rocker. We rock a little and I sing him a song or two. I can't do much for the little guy yet besides eat well, exercise, and such. But I know he had hear me and feel motion, so it is my way of spending a little quality time with Mr. Tot.

Brian Putting Together the Rocker

The Finished Rocker

Neighbors

I find it a little odd here in California that neighbors don't really know each other. I think that's the way most urban and suburban areas are now in America to some degree, but when I lived outside of Atlanta I soon knew the names of all the neighbors in my cul-de-sac. Some I didn't have much in common with, but it seems like we all would take turns chatting at the mailbox and such. We all knew each others' names and helped each other out when needed.

I think about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books. Folks "way back when" were so excited when they had neighbors only forty miles away and came to help each other raise barns, harvest grain, and such. I know that seems such an old fashioned oddity now, but it really was a good thing. I think about my grandparents living by themselves for years. Their only child was dead and their two grandchildren were young adults with no means built up yet living 600 miles away. We had those discussions about if they should move near us or I should move near them. But after talking it through, we all realized we would all have richer lives where we were as long as the visits were often. My grandparents' neighbors gave us all peace of mind -- stopping by to check on them, share garden tomatoes, and help out in a pinch.

Yesterday I was writing along on the book when I heard the neighbors in the yard wrestling with a lawn mower that wouldn't work. They were particularly distressed because at 2:00 PM on Saturday, a couple is getting married in their backyard. So down I went to offer the use of our lawn mower. Unfortunately, our mower had been drained of all fluids for the move, but I called my brother for advice on what oil to put in. Soon the mower was up and running, the grass tidy for the bride and groom. As goofy as it sounds, it made me really happy to pitch in a little and help. Our wedding was like that -- so many people helping us make the day come together.

I'm making inroads into the neighborhood now. I have to test all the recipes that will hopefully go into the book (if there is room), so what do I do with all those baked goods? Some go to work with Brian, but lately I've been knocking on doors to introduce myself and share cookies, pound cake, or gingerbread. It's working! Charlie next door and I stop to chat by the fence if we both happen to be out in the yard. Lydia across the cul-de-sac stops in her car to say hello when I'm walking. This past week I went up the hill to sit with Ena and her father as they waited for their salmon to grill, hearing about her job working for movie director Francis Ford Coppola. These people are interesting. And knowing who lives around me makes the world a warmer place.

San Francisco Star Wars

When we go into San Francisco or towards one of the main shopping districts outside Berkeley, we pass by the dock areas on the edge of the bay where the large container ships are emptied. The cargo handlers tower many stories high -- huge scaffolding-like structures to handle metal containers as large as railroad cars. I can never help thinking of Star Wars now when I see them. Brian and I met a high school student out here who attends a target school specializing in computers. As part of a school program on computer animation, he had recently toured Skywalker Ranch. That's George Lucas' creative studio just north of San Francisco. On the tour they were told the cargo handlers were Lucas' inspiration for the Imperial AT-AT Walkers on the planet Hoth in the movie Empire Strikes Back. For those of you who -- like me -- were raised on the movies, I thought you'd enjoy seeing one of the creative inspirations.

Fort Point & Golden Gate

Back to the adventures on Saturday...

After visiting the Wave Organ, we hopped in the car and followed the curve of the Bay towards the Golden Gate Bridge. This brought us to windy, chilly, but lovely Fort Point National Historic Site. Built between 1853 and 1861 to protect San Francisco Bay, it has stood on the point between the Bay and the Pacific Ocean -- Golden Gate Straight -- for over 150 years. (By the way, I didn't know the Golden Gate Bridge was named after the Straight until I got here. The Straight is the entrance to the Bay from the ocean, a zone about three miles long and a mile wide named by an engineer in 1846.) Between 1933 and 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was built over the top of the fort. Visitors can look up, up, up into the girders and arches.

The fort reminds me a good bit of Fort Pulaski outside Savannah. Both have catacomb-like arches, weathered bricks, and echoing spaces softened by window light. From the ramparts of Fort Point, one can see not just the bridge, but also the Pacific Ocean and the cityscape of San Francisco.

Fort Point Historic Site

Approaching Fort Point

Fort Point in the Late Afternoon Shadows

Under the Golden Gate

Officer's Quarter's in Fort Point
I couldn't resist taking a picture. I love the soft light and the sparse, sturdy quality of the room.