July 26 – National Day of the Cowboy

Posted on July 26, 2014

Today in the U.S.A., it's the tenth annual National Day of the Cowboy.

It's a day all about preserving “pioneer heritage and cowboy culture.” 

Local celebrations vary, of course. Whether it's a parade on horseback down Main Street or a covered wagon trip, a chuck wagon meal or an ice cream social, a historic gun show or horseshoeing demonstrations, choosing a local Cowboy and Cowgirl or holding an Art Spur Writing Contest (in which a piece of Western art “spurs” the writing)...there are a ton of things communities do listed here...

There is a celebration very near me, in Norco, CA, that will include:

• a cowboy obstacle course (the obstacle course portion of the video runs from 45 second mark to the 3:55 minute mark), 
• ribbon races, 
• sled races, 
• celebrity cow chip contests, 
• children's dummy roping (on this video, the contest starts at 3:10), 
• equestrian drill teams, 
• wagon races, 
• sorting, 
• and a bull riders' rodeo. 
• Plus – of course! – food vendors.

Man, I do not know what some of these events are, even! You know what cow chips are, right? It seems icky enough that many festivals and rodeos feature cow chip throwing contests, but what is a celebrity cow chip contest? Do participants try to create celebrity sculptures using cow chips? Or do celebrities compete with throwing the cow chips?

Also on this date:

Maldives Independence Day

One Voice 

Birthday of rock musician Mick Jagger

Anniversary of scientists' first look at moon rocks

The FBI's birthday

National Dance Day









Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• July holidays
• July birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in July

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• August holidays 
• August birthdays 
• Historical anniversaries in August

September 10 – Line Dance Week

Posted on September 10, 2013

Do you know the Electric Slide?

The Achy Breaky?

How about the Watermelon Crawl?

Line dancing is a kind of country-and-western dance performed in lines. It's pretty easy, because you have no partner or square depending on you (in other words, if you mess up, you don't mess anybody else up!). It's nice because you don't need a partner (and you don't have to hold a stranger's sweaty hand!). And it's great because it is good exercise and (best of all) fun!

Actually, there are a lot of line dances from other folk traditions, as well. As a teen I loved joining hands and dancing the hora (an Israeli dance) in such long, winding lines that we could make complex patterns. I loved dancing the Greek folk dance miserlou in a huge circle (which is just a line that has joined ends).

There are other sorts of line dances, too. The Thriller dance is a great line dance! 

(By the way, if you have ever wondered what almost 14 THOUSAND people dancing "Thriller" looks like, check out this video!)

But these days, when we hear “line dancing,” we generally think of country-and-western dances.

So, grab your cowboy hat, your boots, and start scooting and kicking, vining and stomping to these videos:

Here is a YouTube video teaching the Cowboy Cha Cha. 

Here is a really slow-and-easy teaching pace to teach the very beginning of a dance called the Tush Push. (Notice all the other parts of the dance at the right side of the screen.)

And here is one of the most popular dances: Bootscootin' Boogie!

Also on this date:

St. George's Caye Day in Belize 

Gibraltar's National Day

Archeologist Robert Koldeway's birthday 

Plan Ahead!

Check out my Pinterest pages on September holidays, September birthdays, and historical anniversaries in September.

And here are my Pinterest pages on October holidays, October birthdays, and historical anniversaries in October.

March 22, 2010

Gotthardpost by Koller


Happy Birthday, Louis L'Amour

Born on this day in 1908, L'Amour was one of America's best-selling novelists of all time. That's partly because he was prolific (in other words, he wrote a LOT of books). When he died at age 80, all 105 of his works were still in print. Now, more than 20 years later, many of his books are still popular worldwide.

L'Amour's writing is called Western fiction, but he called it “frontier stories.” He wrote some books and stories that didn't fit the Western genre—various adventure stories and even a bit of science fiction—but he wrote so many popular books about the “old west” that he is sometimes called “America's storyteller.”

Cowboys on horses by Remington

Here are some L'Amour quotes I like:

“One day I was speeding along at the typewriter, and my daughter - who was a child at the time - asked me, 'Daddy, why are you writing so fast?' And I replied, 'Because I want to see how the story turns out!'”

When interviewed shortly before his death, L'Amour said: “I'm just now getting to be a good writer. Just now.”

“Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more.”

Celebrate L'Amour

Read a novel or a short story by him. Although his books are found in the genre section of libraries and bookstores, not the kids' section, many teens enjoy the books, and even kids as young as 9 or 10 become L'Amour fans.

Read other Western/pioneer stories. Laura Ingalls Wilder books come to mind...and have you tried Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw?

Watch a Western TV show or movie such as An American Tale: Fievel Goes West.

Watch this animated Lego Western!
Amazing, right? Now get out your Legos and play Western town...or, if you're really motivated, learn how to do Lego animation yourself. Start here.

The Myth of the Old West

A lot of what people picture when they hear “old west” is more myth and legend than real history. Real history is pretty messy. The trailblazers, trappers, and pioneers did both good things and bad things, and the people who were on the land first—the Spanish ranchers and the people of all the various Indian nations—also did both good and bad things. Not only did the good guys and bad guys NOT color-code their hats (or their horses, like the Lego animation) so we could easily recognize who was which, but they were also a little more complex than “good” or “bad”—just like any other human being.

Rodeo Cowgirl by Russell

One problem with the myth of the old west is that it generally stereotypes women and men, “whites” and minorities. Actually, to some extent, the myth leaves out women and minorities! For example, did you know that one out of every three cowboys was African, Indian, or Mexican?

For more info, explore here and here.






Enjoy the Western art of Charles M. Russell and Frederick Remington.
Images are available here and here.

The Outlier by Remington



Here is an arcade game called Mr. Cowboy.

***

Best of all, honor Louis L'Amour by writing stories yourself!

What kinds of stories do you like best? Science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or realistic stories? Write more of what you like!