Saddle up for the frontier

Forrest Adams
West Fargo Pioneer - 02/14/2007

(Forrest Adams is the Managing Editor of The Pioneer and Fargo-Moorhead Magazine. He has worked in journalism for three years and has been in West Fargo for more than one year. A native Minnesotan, he grew up in the Pelican Rapids area and earned his college credits in Minnesota, Florida, South China, and Connecticut. He has a 5-year-old daughter and a wife.)

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you’re so busy you can’t even think? You just operate on instinct. That’s how I’ve felt for about a week. I’m thinking, but I’m not. I’m just doing.

Here I sit in the bedroom/office of my two-bedroom apartment at 12:09 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and I’m thinking about writing stories, good books I’ve read recently, my daughter who just woke up from a bad dream… I’ll be right back.

She never likes to go to sleep, but I think it’s a nice option right about now. Alas, I don’t dare. If I lay down now, I’ll wake up tired tomorrow and have more to do than if I just tough it out right now and pound out some stories. Instead, I’ll write a couple stories and wake up really, really tired and only need to worry about one story.

My mind wanders a bit when I’m tired, but here goes my attempt at a coherent thought. I was working on the contents of the Fargo-Moorhead Magazine full-time last week, and I started to get excited about all the activities coming up in March. I can tell you with certainty that there are some events that I want to take part in.

One of them is the rodeo. I never thought I’d be excited about going to watch the professional rodeo in the Fargodome, but I just read a book called “The Templeton Plan,” and in this book John Marks Templeton, a prominent financier and investment adviser, exhorts the reader to discover new frontiers and try new experiences. In the words of Charles F. Kettering, a scientist whose research included the invention of automotive starting and ignition systems: “There will always be a frontier where there is an open mind and a willing hand.” The rodeo will be a new experience for me, something else to talk about and write about.

What most intrigues me most about this particular rodeo is a conversation I had with a 25-year-old bull rider last week who was on his way to El Paso, Texas, to participate in a bull riding competition. He and his road mate planned to spend about four weeks down south competing in various rides. Both of them plan to compete in Fargo.

I asked him: “Don’t you ever fall off and get trounced by the bull?” He brushed aside the question and replied: “Sure. You take your bruises, but it goes with the territory.” I said: “So why do you expose yourself to that?” His predictable answer was because he wants to be the best at what he does.

At 25 years old, he’s invincible, and I thought to myself: ‘Now here’s a guy that’s reaching for a new frontier.’ He’s taking a calculated risk into uncharted territory every time he gets on a new bull because he wants to succeed at what he does. To somebody like me, running the risk of an angry bull tap dancing on my body seems like more stupidity, but not to him. I suppose bearing one’s soul for the newspaper every week might seem risky for him, but it isn’t for me.

Different strokes for different folks. Just give me a saddle, get your own, and let’s ride to a new frontier.