This is the last day of the Sherry Cervi Youth Championships, and I can honestly say I've seen enough barrel racing to last me for a while. Two days of barrel racing last weekend, and three days of barrel racing this weekend, is a lot of barrel racing. There was also barrel racing after dark this weekend, but trying to get a picture of a high-speed event like barrel racing with only the arena lighting was  hopeless for me. I can barely get a decent shot with the arena lighting and the skylights on a no-cloud day.

I prefer the rodeo kind of barrel racing; that way, I've got other events I can take a picture of, so my photos don't become so redundant. And  speaking of redundant pictures. I'll be heading for Whitewater Draw tomorrow or the next day to visit the Sandhill Cranes. I haven't decided yet about which day I will go because some of my decisions depend on the weather. But it doesn't much matter, I can be packed up and leave in five or ten minutes, and since I'm going to a boondocking area, I don't have to make any plans ahead of time.

I hope to have some cloudy days while there because it gives me a better chance of pretty sunrises and sunsets with the Sandhill cranes flying around. I'm not really sure why I like seeing the Sandhill cranes so much. Whether in Alamosa, Colorado, Bosque Del Apache, New Mexico, or Whitewater Draw, Arizona, I look forward to getting there and spending time with the Cranes. I think it may have something to do with being around wild nature.

I like watching barrel racing because horses are fun to watch, but the rider controls them, and the horses aren't living the way they want to live. But the Sandhill cranes are different. They're living the life they want to live, exactly how they want to live it, and the human beings around them, such as me, don't control them; we simply observe. And I find that more interesting and relaxing than watching an animal being forced to do what humans want it to do. Maybe that's why I value MY freedom so much; I know what it was like to be a well-trained horse and spending my life doing what I'm supposed to do, and not necessarily what I want to do.

Theboondork

See the woman on the right hand side of the picture? She's a REAL professional photographer. She can sit anywhere she wants inside the arena. She has a nice comfy chair to sit in, and two different cameras set up and ready to use for any situation. And she obviously has the skills and talent to produce photographs people want to buy or she wouldn't be sitting here.

My situation is different. I have to take pictures through the fence rails which are about shoulder high. And since I have to take pictures through the fence rails there's no place for me to sit because I have to be standing right next to the fence. And I can't just stand anywhere because I would block somebody's view from the bleachers, so it's sheer luck that I get a picture of anything. I have several cameras, but I refuse to be a pack mule caring around a bunch of cameras and extra lenses just to take snapshots for my hobby, so if it won't fit in my jeans pockets... I don't take it.

Another big difference between her and I is skills and talent, which for the sake of brevity I'll ignore and go straight to the big difference, which is for her this is a job, and for me it's fun. There's few things in the world that people will pay you to do that is actually fun year after year. Just look at famous actors and famous musicians. They've got a job so great and pays so much money that they have to be an alcoholic and, or, a drug addict to deal with it year after year. I am neither, because nobody pays me to live the way I do, I live my life the way I do simply because I enjoy it.

I spent the first two hours of the morning attending the official opening ceremonies of the "Sherry Cervi youth championships". There was a lot of speechifying by various honchos in the organization, but most of the time was taken up with Sherry  hugging, and having an individual picture taken of her with each contestant here at the championship. There are several hundred barrel racing contestants here, and I got pretty bored after watching Sherry hug the first hundred or so and moseyed back to the camper to take a break from all the standing around.

Today's racing was supposed to start with the peewee's going first, but I had seen enough peewee's yesterday during some warm-up races so I waited till after lunch before I went back to the arena.

The rest of the day was just watching the races, taking a few snapshots, and enjoying my day. Which isn't hard to do when you enjoy what you're doing, and doing what you enjoy.

Theboondork

Yesterday afternoon the paved boondocking area at the Fairgrounds started getting crowded. I'm assuming these folks are here to see the barrel races, because before the barrel races, I was usually by myself.

Every barrel racer wants there picture taken with Sherry Cervi. Sherry is to barrel racing what Mike Tyson is to boxing, or what Tiger Wood's is to golf. She's almost 50 years old and still races on occasions. Her winnings have made her a multimillionaire, and getting kids interested in barrel racing seems to be one of her main projects.

After posing with the hundredth kid her smile is starting to fade

Getting bored standing in line for an hour, the loudspeaker was blaring "Old Town Road" so some of the girls started dancing.

Over 100 kids have given her a hug and had their pictures taken, and Sherry's smile is just about done. Compare her smile to the girl next to her.

The kids couldn't bring their horses to this opening celebration, so they bored quickly.

I have a pair of pants just like these, and almost wore them this morning.

The biggest barrel race of the year for the Pima County fairgrounds is now officially underway. I've taken so many pictures of barrel racers I'm sure they're getting boring for everyone, so I'm going to try to do something different this weekend, although I haven't determined yet what that will be.

Based on weather and time constraints, I've decided that when I leave the Pima County fairgrounds on Tuesday morning, I will go to the Whitewater draw, where the Sandhill cranes are first, and then come back to Tombstone after visiting the cranes. There's supposed to be some cloudy weather around that time, so I would have a better chance of experiencing nice sunrises and sunsets, possibly featuring Sandhill cranes.

Only three days of boondocking are allowed out of a seven-day timeframe, so I guess I have to stay away from the boondocking area at Whitewater Draw for four days before I can get another three-day stay. Three days may sound like a long time to boondock with no hookups, especially when your day starts before the sun comes up and you do not do anything except take pictures of birds all day. But to me, those three days fly by in the blink of an eye. I don't know if it's because I'm old or enjoying my life too much, but whatever it is, I know I want it, so I will probably come back to Whitewater Draw for a second visit this winter.

Theboondork

Sunset at one of the Pima County Fairgrounds RV camping areas.