what would brigham play?

i like how fireworks are sold in utah throughout the entire month of july.
we've got the fourth the start, where it belongs. and then, almost three weeks later, we get the 24th of july, which we call 'pioneer day', in celebration of the day brigham young came in with the pioneers and stated, 'this is the place.'

dispite any stereotypes that may exist, i have noticed that utahns like to celebrate things more than most do. not that new orleans has any cause for competition; it's a different kind of party.

still, not growing up here, i tend to forget about the second july holiday, and am not entirely sure what to do with it. i've been gone for a few of them, and spent the night in a salt lake city park to see the parade the next morning one year.
but this was perhaps the raddest.

i got my first accordion lesson!
and it was all i hoped it would be.
actually, it's rather hard to play that thing. kind of like a mutation between a saxophone and a piano, as your left hand is pressing different buttons down while your right hand plays a little piano. totally different set-ups, the left produces the harmony and the right is the melody. after a few hours, i could play the first line of 'twinkle, twinkle', had some sore shoulders and hands, and was in musical love.
so, many thanks to corinne for her help and patience, and i will be scanning ebay now....
my long term goal is to play the solo from 'particle man.'

but what better way to celebrate utah than with a rodeo? as i think about it, my only previous experience was our last night in preston, id, when the rodeo came to town [and we were no longer front page news]. i only saw part of it but knew that i liked it.

the spanish fork rodeo was great. while tickets are all you need to get in, i recommend a cowboy hat, ripped jeans, and a few bottles of sarsaparilla. worked for me, anyway.

there was a pre-show of cowboy mounted shooters, who raced around a course and shot balloons with a six-shooter and, later, a pump-action shotgun. a guy from minnesota won, thank you.
the rest of the night included racing, bucking horses, rodeo clowns, and some seriously big and mean bulls. we cheered and waved our hats, but i think my favorite event was the 'mutton busting', which is little five-year old kids riding bareback on sheep. a ton of fun to watch, and something i intend to force upon my children. [em, are you reading this?]

once i master the accordion, i'm pointing my sights at steer wrestling.