(Credit: Ron T. Ennis /Star Telegram)
I normally have no problem parking my car near the train station and moving around the parade route for pictures. Today it took me nearly an hour to find a spot and it was all the way down by the courthouse. The crowd was so thick I couldn't get a decent shooting position and forget about crossing the street. But to be honest that shows my lack of skill as a photographer. There's always a shot, you just have to find it.
I was mad/happy at the same time. Mad that I couldn't get any good pictures, but happy there was such a huge turnout for the parade. Some years it's been pretty sparse, crowd wise. This year it was packed and the number of small kids was heartwarming. You know this will stick with them for life and keep the tradition alive.
There was no shortage of people at the Stock Show, either. The show barns were packed with both participants and casual observer. I got a kick out of one little girl about 4 that had obviously never ever seen a goat before in her life. The look on that kid's face was priceless. A mixture of horror, joy and excitement all rolled into one. Of course my camera was in the car. Goodbye Pulitzer...
One bit of advice. If you don't already have rodeo tickets don't expect to just walk up and buy seats for that day's performance. It ain't gonna happen, especially on opening weekend. Trust me when I say they don't care how far you drove from to get there. I heard that sob story several times and could have made a small fortune scalping rodeo tickets today, if I had any.
So go enjoy the Stock Show with your kids while the weather's unseasonably nice. They don't call an Arctic blast "Stock Show Weather" for nothing.
And not to brag, cough... but my niece took 7th in the Goat Costume Contest! (I don't get it, either. So you're in good company.)
(Credit: Joe Duty/WCM)
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