Volunteering Weekend

Last weekend was a mirror image of every OYE steer weekend for the past seven years. I was a part of the Yukon FFA chapter, their 35 or so steers and their showmen/women. Well, boys and girls is more accurate, but that is a whole other can of worms and I am not yet a parent.... thank the Great Lord above!! (Sorry, one weekend with teens can spoil a person and make their uterus shrivel up)

Each year, the joke is "the check is in the mail." It never has been nor will it ever be and I am okay with that. I love waking up, being approximately 1/2 hour late as usual and jumping in doing tails. Okay..... for my non-cattle friends- doing tails is the act of using super high powered hairspray to create a Snooky-esk ball on the end of a cow's (or steer in this case) tail (called the switch) We have been doing this task to cattle since Snooky was merely a gleam, or glare, in her daddy's eye. Wonder if she knows that dude? I digress.

Years ago, during my volunteer weekend, I was closer with the kids and knew more of them on a better level. I ran a tight ship! They cleaned and kept themselves together and did other tasks besides picking their noses, napping and looking like hookers. But, I now only see these little tykes one weekend a year. Depressing, I know, but still gives me a gleam of hope that kids can be good.

Now, don't think my job of doing tails is the glue that holds the ship together. I simply make the finished product more tied together and make the kids laugh. This year was no exception to the rule on having a great time. I wanted to share a few things with you that will bring a smile to your face.

1- As boy kept asking the men why I was making a gluey mess of his steers tail. They tried to use somewhat technical jargon, such as "it makes him look more balanced" and "It helps him look thicker quartered." That boy didn't give two hoots about how it made his steer look, since FFA was just a way out of the classroom on sunny days. So, I looked at him and said "You don't go to prom in a tux and tennis shoes, do you?" Home run. He got it. I was just tying up loose ends for him.

2- Sweetest little adorable 11-year-old girl wins her breed. She comes back to show her second steer and looks at me. "That tail looks beautiful!!!" Made my day. I was just there up until that point and then she stole my heart. Wanted to keep her forever!! It wasn't beautiful, it was just a teased, glued ball of hair.

3- Same girl, getting ready for the grand drive: "Are you waiting for me to show?" I replied that I was. "Are you going to do Max's tail again?" Yes I was. "Well," she said. "You better make sure it is done better this time. Time to step up our game!" LOL. She meant no harm. She was so full of laughs.

4- The grand champion steer winner made the crowd go nuts. They were happy. We don't hear that very often, but I was so moved b/c there is so much meanness in the showring anymore.

Not such a moving post, but just to let you know it is easy to make a difference in a kids life. I search for things to do to make my life feel full and worthwhile, but this one weekend every year fills me up for a while. Wears me out, too! LOL. I am always looking for suggestions on how to help people, but for now I am going to just smile about my weekend.

What do you do to help others?