We enjoy hunting in our family and playing a role in wildlife conservation and preservation. With that comes a lot of responsibility, not only to the land and wildlife, but while handling and operating firearms.

In our family, when it comes to guns, it is safety first and foremost, and education plays a big role in gun safety.

My dad taught me how to use a rifle and a shotgun when I was pretty young. I grew up with a fascination with guns (I was quite the tomboy), but my dad recognized the importance of teaching me how to safely operate a firearm. Those rules applied to all guns – real or toy.

I’ve had limited experience with pistols since we mostly hunt with rifles and shotguns, so I enjoyed recently learning the ropes of operating a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol.

I think it’s important for kids to learn about gun safety and why operating guns, whether it’s a pellet gun or a 12-gauge shotgun, comes with a great responsibility. Our nephew Tate is six years old and got his first gun (a Red Ryder BB gun) for his birthday in October. It’s been fun watching him learn about gun safety…and he’s a pretty good shot!

There is something special about the winter night sky in West Texas.

As the sun sinks behind the horizon in the west, the rich orange and red hues that fade to blue and then to black are a sight to see.

The sky out here has its own special characteristics in each of the seasons, but the winter night sky has a different feel to it – and it’s not just the biting cold you’re feeling.

Blue northers are massive cold fronts that aggressively move across the plains with cold air, bone-chilling winds, and, occasionally, snow. They really do look blue, and boy are they cold when they hit!

A couple of weeks ago, we were in Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo.

The NFR is rodeo’s biggest 10 days of the year and brings tens of thousands of people from around the country to Vegas each year.

This was my fourth time to visit Vegas for the NFR, and it’s always a good time.

Here’s a really neat time-lapse of an NFR performance that really gives you the feel of what it’s like to be there in person. It’s loads of fun.

Since the NFR gives Vegas a nice economy boost during what is normally a down time in early December, the casinos, restaurants and businesses all cater to the cowboy crowd. It is humorous (and annoying) to me, however, to observe the “cowboy” stereotype come to life amidst the casinos. Bartenders were sporting poorly shaped, cheap cowboy hats and plaid shirts as if that will make all visitors there for the rodeo feel at home…not so much.

It’s almost as if everyone assumes that all visitors in Vegas during the NFR are either 1) from Texas, 2) ignorant, 3) a fan of mainstream country music, or 4) all of the above. Some ill-advised casino managers had instructed their staffs to play crappy country music throughout the casinos, because I’m sure they all assumed every rodeo loving, cowboy hat wearing, slow talking visitor loves Rascal Flatts.

Yikes. Not so.

In addition to the NFR performances, we also took in a Pistol Annies concert at Mandalay Bay. It was actually the group’s first performance together that was not on an awards show. The all girl group headed up by Miranda Lambert is a refreshing break from modern country music that does nothing more than sing inaccurate anthems about country living…in poorly written songs.

Well, now that I’m off my soap box, how about a fun stereotype of Vegas – Elvis. I wish this song would play 24/7 while you’re in Vegas. It would really add to the experience.

Tagged: National Finals Rodeo, Travel, Vegas ]]> http://essaysfromtexas.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/viva-las-vegas/feed/ 0 essaysfromtexas IMG_00554 IMG_00518 IMG_00541 IMG_00533 IMG_00598 http://essaysfromtexas.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/b-b/ http://essaysfromtexas.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/b-b/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:30:11 +0000 essaysfromtexas http://essaysfromtexas.wordpress.com/?p=2758 ]]>  

The trip to Arkansas gave us some time to play with our youngest nephew. Little B and Uncle B had a big time checking on the horses and playing in the leaves.

In the early 1980s, my parents planted many maple trees amongst the exiting oaks on what we call “The Hill.”

Each fall, the maples fill the countryside with orange, yellow and red hues.

Here’s a look at the beautiful autumn colors on th West Farm.

Both were a big hit, but the bouncy balloons only lasted about two minutes.

Now that we have nephews, it is a lot of fun watching them grow up around sports. Our oldest nephew Tate may be the biggest sports nut of the family. Instead of inviting his friends from school to his sixth birthday party, he wanted an organized football game with his family and their friends – mainly because he was worried his friends from school wouldn’t know how to play football.

He’s a kid after my own heart.

Tate got his wish, and we played football.

We even had a referee. Uncle Jim called a clean game. Doesn’t he look like Bobby Petrino?

Instead of a coin flip, the two team captains, Tate and his mom, did Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who would get the first possession.

Tate won.

Reece and Tucker watched from the sidelines with Sassy. It won’t be long before those two are making bruises on the field.

Our friends James, Brett and Casey joined the family for a well fought game.

Of course, Tate was the MVP, scoring big touchdown runs and even running back a kickoff or two.

Most of us will be sore and achy tomorrow, but it was a great game. No one was seriously injured, which is a big win for this crew.

More pics to come.