Today I worked at the Ranch Rodeo Roundup in Woodside as on-scene standby medical support. The event was hosted by the Woodside Mounted Patrol which is a horse-based Search and Rescue organization.

It was a great time. I spent a large chunk of the afternoon running a list through my head all of the potential injuries that could happen at a rodeo so that I could mentally prepare: Gored by a steer, bitten by a horse, trampled, rope burns, sun burns, falls… fortunately nothing too extreme happened!

Not only was it a fun day out in the sun, but I enjoyed the exposure to a completely new sport and had fun chatting new friends. Who ever knew there was such a strong Western-style contingent this close to San Francicso?! Here are a few pics I snapped with my cell phone. Doesn’t it look like they’re having a great time?
One of the first events- racing around poles and barrels:

One guy ropes the head, another ropes the feet, a third wrestles the cow to the ground and “brands” him with paint:

This is a little crooked because I actually JUMPED BACK from the fence as they pounded by me!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Not only am I crazy busy at work (been picking up a lot of hours on the rig and also my first lecture/presentation at the SFPA was two nights ago!), but E and I just got back from a beach week with my family on the Outer Banks of NC. We had a great time fishing, beaching, grilling, reunionizing, building sand castles, and in my case- becoming rather sunburned.