Heart of Gold

"You can see the drinking and the swearing and the rough edges. Or you can see the heart. It all depends on how you look at it," B said.

A wagon turned completely upside down—two horses on the ground, three men trapped. Cowboys ran onto the field, unhitched the horses and helped them up. They lifted the wagon off the men and set it aside. They cleared the field for the ambulances. None of this was easy and most of it was dangerous, but everyone did whatever they could to help.

Another wagon tipped over on its side. The horses continued to run hell bent for leather. The driver and his cook were on the ground, their heads bouncing off the dirt and rocks as the terrified horses dragged them across the field. The driver kept a grip on the reins and finally pulled the horses to a stop. The men jumped up, righted the wagon, and finished the race. The crowd went wild.

"That's heart. That's what you're seeing right there. Those boys are 100% cowboy, 100% heart," shrieked the announcer.

Others might see it differently. That well known "prudent man" of legal convention probably would not run between rearing horses or scramble up from near-death to finish a race that couldn't be won.

Truth to tell, I almost choked during the opening ceremony when Dixie began to pour from the loudspeakers. Elvis, no less. And it stopped me cold when the minister's opening prayer mentioned that it "doesn't matter whether you're Baptist or Catholic or even Presbyterian. We all worship the one true God."

Really? All 30,000 people there were Christian? I guess there is no diversity in that universe.

Might sound funny, but I enjoyed every single minute of the chuckwagon races. Maybe I saw its heart.