June 12

Beth and I did more weeding today. We're getting ready to plant some of the olive trees. The weeding is in general easy, except for the spiky thistles; they can get pretty gigantic. It's already satisfying getting the huge ones out, but I made it even more fun by pretending they were major corporations. BP, Monsanto, and Disney got it good.
A little while later, Beth's son Shandin took me to the rodeo. Seriously. They still have those. I have literally never seen so many cowboy hats in one place at once. I even made a joke about whether one can participate without a hat... and it turns out you can actually lose points if you don't have one.
I saw some calf roping, some bullriding, and the women's three-barrel racing. I just have to ask myself. Who was the first guy to say to his friend, "Hey buddy, see that giant dangerous animal with horns? Bet I can stay on it longer than you without dying."
It was very, very American.
Shandin and I had a great conversation on the way home, ranging through trans issues, religion, media, democracy, and how best to avoid rattlesnakes. Back at the ranch, Beth and I weeded some more and talked about her artist friend Gorman, one of those lucky ones whose art is popular during his lifetime.
Beth has two horses, Baron and Carmelita. Carmelita is a beautiful blonde horse who used to be a wild mustang; she still doesn't really like people. Baron is a caramel/white paint stallion. He's a lot friendlier, and we are hoping that he will eventually get comfortable enough with me to let me ride him. Shandin thinks this is a terrible idea and will only end in injury.
But even if he never lets me ride him, spending time with Baron has really given me some perspective. I honestly feel that if I can get this horse to like me, I'll never worry about any human's approval again. It may sound cheesy, but it is obvious to me that this horse has a good soul and deserves all of my respect. I can't say that about all of the people I meet, or that I am always correct if I believe it initially. So I really, really hope that I can earn Baron's love.
We also caught five mice this evening in the traps. Beth's been getting really frustrated with the little buggers, because they've gotten into a lot of food that other visitors to the ranch didn't store properly. Thankfully, she doesn't make me deal with the dead ones. They're so cute and it's so sad to see them with their little broken necks! ... But I want to have food.