It has taken Rowdy Buechner 40 seconds to win as much money as I earned my last year of teaching. Since the National Finals Rodeo began last Friday, our boy from Sandpoint has ridden four of five broncs to pocket $38,743.99. My math may be wrong, but if he were earning that on an hourly basis, I think it would amount to nearly $3.5 million per hour. If that estimate be in error, I'm sure I'll hear from someone.
Whatever the total, Rowdy's done pretty well for himself, in spite of his "no score" Monday night. In last night's fifth go-round, he scored an 86 to take second among the 15 bareback riders who made it to this year's National Finals. So, we continue to be proud of our hometown rodeo hero.
The ESPN rodeo analyzers suggested Monday night that Rowdy's demise could have resulted from his tendency to give every ride his all. That was confirmed in this morning's Spokesman story where he was quoted, "It don't really matter to me if I'm sitting first in the average or last, I'd still ride the same way. I'm just having fun getting on good bucking horses."
No, I didn't have the good fortune to teach Rowdy grammar while I was earning my less than $3.5 million per hour, but I don't think those bucking horses really care. And, I don't really care because, through his grit, personal sacrifice, determination, hard work, talent, family support, etc., he's already created a pretty good story, and I'd give him an A-plus for that.
Speaking of bareback riders, I learned about another up-and-coming star last night while talking to my frequently long-lost friend Susie "Sky" Baldwin. Her nephew Jamie Baldwin from Wyoming will be chasing after the Rowdy Buechner's and Ryan Gray's of the rodeo world soon. He competes for the University of Wyoming, and he's been doing pretty well himself on the college rodeo circuit.
I referred to Susie as such because, since we separated as best neighborhood friends back in 1965, we've lost track of each other a time or two, but we've never lost track of our lifelong friendship. Now, I've stayed pretty much in the same place, but Susie has seen much of the world on her life's adventures.
Her dad, Dick Baldwin, worked for the Forest Service here in Sandpoint, and when I went off to college, the Baldwins were transferred to Missoula. That's where Susie went on to school and received her degree in speech therapy from the University of Montana.
Since then, she's spent a couple of years touring and photographing the national parks of South America, traveled to Australia, worked in Juneau and Homer, Alaska, lived in the mountains above Lima, Montana, built a fruit farm in the Bitteroot Valley, owned a fencing business in Prescott, Arizona, illustrated a book called Hand Hewn about log-cabin building and, most recently, moved to Southwest Colorado where she and her hubby Bill are developing a small farm.
Susie and I did a bit of rodeoing ourselves during the five years that she and her family lived at the Bonner County Fairgrounds house just down the road from us on North Boyer. She rode a big, old white gelding named Major, while I rode our spirited Saddlebred mare, Largo. My family knew horses and how to treat them; Susie's didn't. So, Susie took the lead in our errant horse adventures, convincing me that as long as my mother and dad weren't looking, it was okay to race.
And, race we did on warm summer nights around this neighborhood. Often, we'd end up down at the old rodeo grounds, then located on Baldy Road where Interstate Concrete is now. Our favorite race involved starting at the in-gate to the arena, going opposite directions and seeing who could return to the gate first. Largo always won, and if Largo ever thought she was gonna lose, she'd cut corners to get to that gate before Major.
Well, one night she really cut the corners, and I landed on the ground----head first. That incident could very well have contributed to my lifelong quirky behavior, but I got up and climbed back on that ol' mare.
I still don't know if Largo beat Major that night, but I do know that we followed the usual nightly routine, once Susie and I parted company at the intersection of Woodland Drive and Boyer. As she and Major plodded on down the road through the darkness toward her house, I'd get off Largo and try to rub all the lather off her legs and body, so the inspector generals at home wouldn't yip, "You've been running her again, haven't you?"
I hadn't talked to my dear friend Susie since we parted company last February in Prescott, the day before Mother and I met Rowdy in Old Tucson, so somehow kharma must've taken over. Something inspired me to find her telephone number on the Internet, call her up and, as usual, just start yapping as if we see each other every day.
Next time, we do see each other will probably be on her new farm in Colorado, and I'm sure the conversation may include a few memories about our great neighborhood rodeoing and riding times with Largo and Major.
Ride 'em, Rowdy. Hats off to my dear friend, Susie. Good to reconnect.
No comments:
Post a Comment