Ride 'Em, Cowboy & the June Give Away

For the last twelve years of my teaching career, I taught a class where the kids spent both fourth and fifth grade with me. When you spend two years together, you really get to know each other well. 

You get a glimpse into who they are at the core, their talents and strengths, the things that are hard for them, and so much more. (It also breaks your heart when they move on to sixth grade.) Often I had a pretty good idea of the direction that they might go in as adults, but sometimes there were surprises. 

This former student of mine was adventurous, but he has sure caught me off guard with the challenges he has chosen to try as he became an adult. I've written about him before; he's the former student who taught himself to eat fire.

He was curious about how it was done, researched it, and learned how to do it. The secret, he told me, is to exhale as you put the flame in your mouth. (Thanks, J, if I ever decide to give it a go, I will remember that. Hah!)

J (right), his brother A (left, who was also my student) and me at A's high school graduation party in 2021.

This weekend J posted his latest adventure on social media. Bull riding!

J enrolled in a two day Cowboy Camp this spring and learned the basics of bull riding.

 

I've been watching the PBR for years and believe you me, bull riding is a very, very dangerous sport. 

And J found that out - he shared that he'd ridden five bulls, had been stepped on twice, and ended up with two sprains and a mild concussion by the end of camp. (Good thing both of his parents are medical doctors.)

Like I said, I get to know the kiddos well, but some do still surprise me when they grow up. J did just that not once, but twice!

It's time for the June Give away, and the hint I dropped yesterday was, "It is not an equine, it's a(n) _____ine."

Bovine! (Good guess on feline, Nancy!)

I found this china Holstein cow at an antique shop mixed in with some Breyers and Hartlands.

I rescued her so I could get her into the hands of collectors.

So many of us have collections within our collections (circus ponies, anyone?)

I don't see any chips or breaks, and I ran my fingers all over her looking for flakes or chips.

She is numbered T908 and I think she is a Lefton.

She reminds me of one of my carpet herd pieces, Diamond Dandy, who is a Lefton.

To win the dairy cow, the usual entering info applies: Comment on any blog entry starting with (and including) this one and ending Wednesday, June 12 at 11:59 PM Eastern. I'll spin to win on Thursday or Friday.

Good luck!