Dust, heat, rodeo, and a camera

By Jamie Rieger

It almost feels like the dog days of summer have arrived a few weeks early, does’t it?
Many farmers are out harvesting a little early, the fire bans are on, grassfires are erupting on almost a daily basis, and rodeo season is in full swing.
Every summer, I spend many weekends taking photos at rodeo and come home good and dirty at the end of the day. There’s nothing I enjoy more. Well, not much anyway.
The trips sometimes include many stops along the way of farmers working in their fields, of the crops themselves. and on occasion, a grassfire. (I keep boots in my vehicle now for this very reason.)
Oh, and if I hit the road early enough in the morning, I might be able to capture a critter or two. In the summer, I can get out to places that I probably would not go to in January when the temperatures are around -30 and there’s drifting snow on all the grid roads.
So, in the summer, I try to get to as many of these communities as I can.
I get to enjoy a bit of the scenery, get to visit with folks I probably only see once or twice a year, and I come home with a memory card filled with lots of photos.
And, on Saturday, I came home very dusty. With no moisture in the soil at all, the Manyberries arena was like a dustbowl and the riders had no problem kicking it up. From a distance, it may have looked like there was a grassfire with all the dust that was flying up. Hot, dusty, and thirsty, it sure was a great way to spend the day.

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