Don Senneville and Jim White
It is true that real cowboy coffee used broken eggshells in the ground beans to settle the grounds and lower acidity. Who knew? Hats off to the cowboy scientist who figured that out. Is cowboy coffee affected by the egg crisis? We don’t know for sure, but we are now on the prowl for the perfect cup of cowperson coffee. We’re off to the Cave Creek Rodeo arena. The place is empty and haunted. We cruise the wide expanse of gravel, checking the grounds – the stage for a real PRCA rodeo. We feel the ghosts of bronc riders, rodeo workers minding the chutes, and deep-voiced, slow-talking announcers telling us where contestants are from (they’re always from the Great State of somewhere).
Don admits that he’s long wanted to be a rodeo announcer, filling the slow spots with memories of cowboys of old. (The announcers are always much older than the contestants, so they have tales of having “worked with his daddy years ago,” they remind us that the saddle-bronc ride is the premier event in professional rodeo, ladies and gentlemen, and they reveal that our first rider this afternoon is so-and-so from the Great State of wherever.) We left and went to Starbucks drive thru. Surprisingly, possibly because of the cost of eggs, they do not offer an eggshell dark cowboy roast (Roc2 does; bring your own eggs). We shall return to the Rodeo Grounds when the ghost of Rex Allen beckons us. Howdy Folks!
Now to The Parade: Sitting in front of Big Earl’s surrounded by family, we wait to watch the best of our towns fly by. Who thought that Big Earl’s Greasy Eats would have the perfect cup of cowboy coffee, sin egg shells. Is cowgirl coffee different? The Parade ranks as one of life’s great pleasures. Arriving early as we tend to do, we sit our chairs on the edge of the street before everybody else gets there. We watch paraders heading west to the parade starting gate. We see the Shriners are here as usual, the Arizona Rangers are on the job as we expect them to be, and Local Burritos from Earl’s are ordered, with waffles for the kids. Tyler is on the job at Big Earl’s, cheerfully bringing the food, serving a wide range of parade watchers. Lots of Creekers, maybe a lot of snowbirds as well. Finally, the honor guard is visible, riding gorgeous horses, holding our flags aloft.
March was quite a month in our towns. A hippie bus in Carefree, the singing cowboy, marching mariachis, Cubs and Brownies, marshalls, sheriffs, firepersons, DAR ladies and John Deere, broncos and mustangs, roofers and plumbers, a queen, outlaw hair – leading eventually to Kiwanis Club pancakes. (Don has stated that parade announcing, unlike rodeo announcing, is out of the question.) Did the low key Miners’ Dinner at the museum slow things down? Was the hippie bus really just rodeo clowns, or…? Then there is Ron’s brain. A tip of the hat to ya! We hope all is well in our towns, as our law enforcement was all in the parade. Safest place around. Thanks Ron.
Please send us your Rodeo experience to The CUP at [email protected]
