One of the things I knew I would miss about leaving Houston is the rodeo. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is one of the largest rodeo events in the world, and Peggy and I enjoyed it immensely each year.

Now we have moved to Austin, and my company is one of the sponsors of the Austin Rodeo. Of course, it is not nearly as big as the Houston Rodeo, but, hey, this is Texas. So it’s big enough. The rodeo takes place for two weeks every March. The rodeo season kicks off each year with the Rodeo Gala which is a charity fundraiser, art auction, dinner and show. Peggy and I were lucky enough to attend the event tonight.

We got there early so we could walk around the art auction and make our silent auction bids. Some of the pieces were really amazing, and some of them were very rodeo-centric. Fortunately, we were not the winning bidders on any of the pieces on which we had bid. I was relieved. We enjoyed a great dinner with wonderful conversation and then kicked back to be entertained by Gary Allan.

If you don’t know who Gary Allan is you are probably not a country music fan. He has been around for about the last twenty years with plenty of hit songs. He plays a lot in Texas, even though I think he is from California. I don’t hold that against him.

We stayed while Gary played, we danced a little bit, but mostly we just enjoyed the event. I love when Peggy has the opportunity to dress up. I learned a long time ago that the heads aren’t turning to see me, but she never even notices. I do. And I love it.

The rodeo this year has Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson to go along with all of the hot, young country acts. It may not be Houston but I think we are going to enjoy it.

We sure enjoyed tonight…