Mailbag

Each week I'll share some of the responses, positive and negative, that I get from my columns

It was a rather slow week as far as responses to the column go. Although I did speak with several people who shared some of their horse ridding memories with me, I only received one email specifically related to my rodeo experience. It comes from a man named Wiley, and I happen to agree with him.

After asking whether I was related to some Bouchers who owned a real hardware store in the Nashville area in the 1950s (as far as I know I'm not, by the way. I think my Bouchers came from Canada, but I'm always down for meeting/creating new relatives) he had his own opinion about my clothing:

"If you were wearing a wool shirt in Kentucky in August you are tougher than I am." 

Well thank you, sir. Although it had less to do with toughness and more to do with trying to look the part of a cowboy--which I'm fairly certain I failed anyway, thanks to not having a cowboy hat--I appreciate your sentiment. I've already passed it along to staff photographer Dana Long, who felt it was not a sign of toughness as much as a sign of stupidity. 

I prefer your interpretation.

I did receive several other emails from people suggesting sites and events that need to be featured in future columns. One came from local media veteran Jim Love, who suggested I look into two stories: one dealing with an interesting local twist on the tale of Noah's arc, the other a local tie to a car accident involving Gen. George Patton. Both seem fairly entertaining, if not entirely factual, and I'm excited to do a little digging. 

I also received a suggestion from a man named Ben, who said he lives in Cadiz. He suggested I visit a famous civil war site located in western Kentucky, and provided part of the history for that site. I agree Ben, that would be a great place to visit; while others have mentioned the site in the past, no one has provided pictures to bolster their pitch. I'm convinced it's a great idea, and it will definitely make an appearance in an article in the near future.

Thanks again to everyone who sent me responses; good, bad, neutral or nasty, I appreciate any and all feedback.

For tomorrow's blog post, I want to hear about your favorite rodeo experiences. What's your favorite event? How did this year's rodeo compare to others in the past? Would you ever ride a bull?

Send your stories and pictures to me, either by posting to the blog or through email at dboucher@kentuckynewera.com.

A different perspective

Staff Photographer Dana Long offers her perspective on what she feels are my odd dressing habits. 

So far, getting Dave to do silly things in order to learn about western Kentucky life has been pretty easy. Getting him to do the smart thing is a little trickier.

Lucky that late-afternoon clouds blocked out the sun, Dave sports a long-sleeved shirt at the Kelly Green Men Days.

When he arrived at the rodeo, some participants were surprised to see him wearing a long-sleeved wool shirt — certainly atypical attire for a Kentucky August, but nothing that surprised me. 

Earlier in the day, he showed up at the Kelly Green Men Days — with temperatures in the 90s — in a different long-sleeved shirt. 

During the Western Kentucky State Fair’s demolition derby (again, with temperatures hot enough to make Satan sweat), he casually meandered into the fairgrounds wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a sweater.

Seriously, Dave?

Now most of us Kentuckians can understand wearing long sleeves and pants in the summer to ward off sunburn and perpetual attacks by ticks, mosquitoes and other creepy-crawly blood suckers, but we obviously have more sense than Dave and don’t venture out into the summer sauna wearing a layer of wool. Such antics get him hours of teasing in the newsroom and should create a new item on his bucket list: dressing appropriately for the weather.

Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater during an intense summer heat wave, Dave takes his teasing from New Era photographer Dana Long and Webmaster John Godsey like a champ.

What’s next Dave, flannel in a tobacco patch? 

Fortunately for us, he takes his teasing in stride. But when winter’s chill settles in and the first sight of a snowflake prompts bread and milk shortages at local grocery stores, school closings and the reminder that most Kentuckians got their driver’s licenses out of Cracker Jack boxes, that Yankee will surely wonder why such a minor snowfall throws a major wrench in our lives. 

He’ll get his revenge. After we get back from the grocery store. 

Welcome to Dave's Kentucky Bucket Blog

Thank you for venturing to Dave's Kentucky Bucket Blog. In this blog I'll try to provide more insight into my experiences, as well as a way for you to ask me questions, share your own experiences or tip me off to the location of my next visit.

I've designed a tentative posting schedule for the blog that will run as follows:

Monday: The story behind the story
     -I'll post some tidbits from that week's adventure that weren't able to make it into the column.

Tuesday: A different perspective
     -Often I'm accompanied on my trips by a photographer, and that person typically has a slightly different opinion of how things go down. For the events where I'm joined by another staffer, that person will provide their account of the experience.

Wednesday: Mailbag
     -I get some response each week to what I write, and I try to respond to as many as possible. Here, I'll share some of those comments and my own responses.

Thursday: Your bucket list
     -This is a chance for you to share your own experiences that are similar to the one I've completed that week. If you've got a picture of you riding a horse in a rodeo, for example, send it my way and I could post it to the blog.

Friday: To the next adventure
     -I'll share the options I'm considering for upcoming bucket list sites, and what questions I hope to answer during the course of the experience.

Saturday: If my bucket was larger than Western Kentucky
     -I find stories about places I'd love to go or events in which I'd love to participate all the time. I'll share links to some of these, as well as why I think they would make for a fun column.

Sunday: Sneak peek
     -I'll give a few hints about what will run in tomorrow's column. I may even include a photo or two from the experience.

Thanks again for your interest in the column. I appreciate any and all feedback, so leave a comment here with any appropriate opinion you may have.
 

Rodeo round-up

Overall I had a great time at the rodeo; it was a humbling experience, but one I will definitely remember fondly in years to come. There are a few things that stuck with me from the event that did not make it into the column, a scenario I've found myself in when writing all of my bucket list stories.

So, on the day my column runs in the New Era, I'll be posting additional tidbits here in the blog.

I'm in the green shirt, trying to act like I've done this before.

I cannot emphasize how weird it was for me to feel my horse Rob Roy inhaling and exhaling: the expansion and shrinking of the rib cage creates a really odd feeling of not being in control, for me anyway. I can generally pick things up pretty quickly, but I had a tough time really feeling comfortable with the horse and the subtle ques needed to come to a mutual understanding. Vanessa Madison, one of the rodeo orchestrators and my guide for the night, told me the more I relaxed I was on the horse, the more the horse would relax and the easier it would be for both of us. Apparently I had a tough time relaxing, because neither of us really seemed all that comfortable.

Apart from my lack of control, it was particularly humbling to see little kids riding by on massive horses. Some of these kids could not have been older than 8 or 9 years old, their legs jutting out at extreme angles because they were too short to fold around the horse's side. And yet they trotted by on their steads with easy, obviously happy as a clam. I've never been in a situation where little kids were able to do something better than me; this could be one of the first signs that I'm starting to get old.

Other tidbits that stood out to me:

• Some of the cowboys used lassos that didn't appear to be made of rope or the typical dusty brown color expected, but rather a cord-material sometimes made with loud colors, including neon green, yellow and pink. New Era photographer Dana Long and I decided maybe the colorful lassos could be easier to see after the cowboy makes his or her throw. 
• Thanks to Dana Long for photographing the event, coming through with awesome rodeo art, including the photo in this post. 
• The smell of a rodeo is immediately evident and similar to that of a barn, but it faded away pretty quickly. 
• One of the rodeo judges, Jeff, told me he'd been involved with rodeos for 16 or 17 years. He said although it's fun, it can get a little repetitive. He used to ride in the events, but preferred the guaranteed paycheck that came with being a judge.
• Mike Gibbs, the cowboy who helped me during my ride, competed in the team calf roping event. He said he belonged to the International Professional Rodeo Association, as did most of the other participants. The organization keeps a calendar of rodeos, and riders need to sign up with the local rodeo organizers in order to participate. 

Thanks for your continued interest in the column, please let me know if you have any ideas, questions or criticism. Feel free to post your comments on this site, and click on the info box on the home page of the blog to subscribe to future posts.