Here's to good memories, past and future

In my ongoing quest to avoid reality (because really, who among us is interested in reality right now?) I found myself this week traveling back in time to the handful of years in the 1970s that my brothers and I were involved in junior livestock showing.

This is, after all, the season when a good portion of farm and ranch kids break free from school to turn their attention to the endless diversions offered by county, state, and regional fairs.

We showed our first steers in the fall of 1972, the year my younger brother turned 9 and became eligible for 4-H membership. I was 10, and our older brother was 11.

That September was our first of seven consecutive and memorable visits to the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque.

We were housed with hundreds of other 4-H and FFA kids in those cavernous bunk-bed-filled dorms near the animal barns (and arguably “animal barns” in their own right).

Breakfast was available by ticket in the attached dining hall, featuring three items rare in our world: small boxes of pre-packaged cereal, whole milk (a luxury for kids raised on the powdered skim version), and enormous fluffy doughnuts (Every single day! For breakfast!).

Most years — maybe every year? — we splurged for one performance of professional rodeo in Tingley Coliseum, a choice determined largely by which country music star was on the roster to entertain at intermission. Charley Pride was a favorite.

Left to our own devices (as we were at least part of the time), I loved to sneak across the street to the horse arena and watch the exotic Arabian performances with both horses and riders decked out in lavish, glittering costumes.

The nearby Indian Village was another draw. The time spent waiting in the endless lines for fresh fry bread was always worth the investment.

One of my most vivid childhood memories happened at that fair in either 1972 or 1973.

Kathy Grider was the Roosevelt County Fair Queen both of those years, an honor that allowed her to compete for the title of State Fair Queen.

Kathy was blonde, beautiful, elegant, and stunningly color-coordinated from her crown-adorned hat to the tips of her cowboy boots, all things that I was not (and I have the photos to prove it).

We had a chance encounter one day on the state fairgrounds, as she was riding past on her horse (or I may have been stalking her … it’s been a long time and I really can’t say).

Whether or not she really remembered me from Portales, she pretended that she did, and then she bestowed upon me the privilege of holding her horse’s reins for a few moments as she dashed into the nearby Youth Pavilion.

I lack the words to adequately describe how important I felt. It was as if the world had stopped spinning. I was certain all eyes were upon me and all those passersby had to be green — positively green, I tell you — with envy.

In less than five minutes, my brush with fame was over.

Kathy returned, retrieved the reins (I may have tried to prevent that from happening), said her thanks, remounted, and with a tip of her colorful hat she rode away.

So, in this dark and uncertain time, here’s to good memories, including those yet to be made.

And how about a bacon-wrapped caramel apple and deep-fried cookie dough?

Will you join me?

Betty Williamson has accepted that she will never be color-coordinated. Reach her at:

[email protected]