The 110th Denver National Western Stock Show Parade!

Hello! I'm glad to be back on my blog.  I am recovering well from eye surgery and appreciated all your well wishes and prayers. I was happy to be able to attend the 110th annual Denver National Western Stock Show Parade on Thursday, January 7th.  This annual event is the "kick-off" to the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, held at the National Western Center in Denver, Colorado. (All photos in this post will enlarge for easier viewing if clicked on)

The parade begins every year with a herd of Texas long-horned cattle being driven down 17th Street, from Union Station towards a turn off a block before the Brown Palace Hotel. It is a sight to see!

The cattle are well controlled by cowboys and cowgirls, as they walk by almost close enough to touch!  If you'd like to see a short video I took of the longhorns in the parade you can click here to watch it on my blog's Facebook page

This cowboy was ready to lasso any cattle that tried to getaway!

Click to enlarge to see the special guests and dignitaries in the parade.  The parade Grand Marshall was Rich Karlis, a football placekicker who played 9 years for the Denver Broncos.

There were many rodeo representatives and rodeo stars in the parade--this is just a small portion of them.

 The Westernaires were well represented.

The Westernaires are a nonprofit organization in Jefferson County, comprised of over 1,000 youth ages 9 to 19 that learn responsibility, self-respect, and leadership through horsemanship.

Is there anything that evokes the west more than cowboys on horseback?

Also included were the hard-working tractors of Colorado farmers and ranchers.

The Grizzly Rose country bar, nightclub and dance hall had a band on their float.

 The Grizzly Rose "Mountain Man" led his dogs and two burros in the parade.

Colorado State University is one of the sponsors of the parade. They offered a fundraiser barbecue buffet lunch, held at the Wells Fargo building prior to the parade, that my husband and I also enjoyed--coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans and pulled pork sandwich, with cookies for dessert.

Another large group of Westernaire youth

Westernaires has provided training in western riding, precision drills, and horse care for the past 67 years.

Next, was the Jefferson County High School Rodeo Team, which is comprised of around 40 boys and girls from various high schools around Jefferson County, that learn and compete in rodeo skills.

There was a little bit of levity towards the end of the parade when one of the ladies dressed in the ball suit to promote the lottery, slipped on some of the "horse droppings" and fell over. She was quite helpless getting up due to the awkwardness of the suit, but her co-marchers helped her up and she had a good laugh and kept marching as the crowd cheered!

That episode shows why the official end to the parade is the much-needed street sweepers.

After the parade, my husband and I walked over to see the Christmas decorations in the Brown Palace Hotel lobby. Formal tea was being served so I could not take too many photos.  I celebrated a birthday and had tea in the Brown Palace Hotel a few years ago. If you'd like to see that blog post, click here.

The day after the stock show parade the Denver area had another snowfall. This has been a very damp and cold winter so far in the West, due to the El Nino weather system, the USA is experiencing. I looked out my window in the morning to see this group of deer sitting in the snow under my neighbor's large pine tree. They seemed very content to wait out the snow and stay warm this way.  It reminded me of this quote:

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Patience seems like a good word for the New Year for me--I'm patiently healing and patiently enjoying the beauty of winter.  I hope your first days of 2016 have also been good ones!