The groundhog is full of crap

The sources I saw all agreed that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we are in for six more weeks of winter. I'm all for more winter, even in this drought of snowboarding I'm enduring. But I have reason to think that Phil might be wrong this year. Some of you have had the pleasure of observing my yearly spring ritual of getting my short "schoolboy" haircut which makes me look about five years younger than I already do. Inevitably, my right hand then gets a workout extracting my ID from my wallet over the next month or two as my hair grows out. Well this year my schoolboy haircut came February 5, markedly earlier than normal. I didn't intend to get it cut this short this early, it just kind of happened. My ever imaginative hair cut person suggested a shorter cut, and it seemed like a good idea to me at the time. This can only mean one thing - spring in on the way. But I sit with a near blizzard raging outside and me feeling like I should be prancing around like some pretty boy in an American Eagle add. Yikes, not a good combination. Perhaps I subconsciously jumped the gun with the haircut in anticipation of the Chile trip and plans-in-the-making for a spring back country snowboard trip in the Sierras or Cascades.

Going's on

My blogging effort has been sorely lacking of late. I attribute it to a lack of inspiration. It's been cold, gray, icy, and dark lately - this combination usually means great snow and good turns but the clouds have thus far refused to give up their fluffy gift. So, to occupy my time I've turned to rodeo. That's right, rodeo. The cold north winds ushered in the annual Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo with herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and many a cowboy-hat-sportin,' tight-jean-wearin' resident of nearby states. Before the week of the stock show concluded I attended no less than three rodeos. One was the "ranch rodeo" in which anyone is welcome to compete provided they form a team of four and pay the entry fee. The events simulate modern ranch work such as a relay race to unload a horse trailer, race the horses around a circuit, load them back up and jump back in the truck. The novelty factor ranked high. I received free tickets to the second rodeo and paid for the third. These two were traditional rodeos with all the normal events and, of course, a wise cracking rodeo clown. The rodeo really is entertaining to watch and appreciate all the skill that goes into the events. On the flip side, the average fan at the rodeo could be a poster child for the Bush-backing demographic who only see what they want to see and refuse to accept any criticism of that view. Maybe it's the tight pants - though I have to admit there certainly are some good looking cowgirls out there making a strong case for Wranglers.

Now that the rodeo has left, though, I'm back to planning for the future and happy to have finally booked a ticket to Chile. April 14 - May 15, it'll be a good month.