Preview:

This week’s authentic home-grown story featuring up-and-coming Taos local rider - Eastin Rosales - representing the Rodeo De Taos + more events coming up, peppered with that soul-scribed writing that empowers the heart and uplifts the spirits.

Purposeful Poem:

Strap up your saddle

Give a wave to the cattle

Bolster up your brother & sister

Time to go to battle!

The crowd awaits with patient grace

Rise! Take up your rightful place

Sling your rope, run the race -

For just ahead, over the horizon -

Welcomes you to The Sacred Space!

Community Calls for Connection (True Activity)

Rodeos, concerts, art crawls, beer festivals, you name it - what you will find is they are all the same - ingrained with the friendly frame to share our names and put together our brains.

For Cholla At Me - which is all about funmaxxing, connecting with community, uplifting others, and creating true quality content every week - finding the right tune to play can be a challenge. It’s incredibly easy to overcomplicate things, to overthink, to wander off and fall into cruise-control mode - to question everything and lead to paralysis analysis.

But, the good news is on the other side - taking action (moving forward in any genuine way) is actually just as easy. Once the train starts chugga chugging, the momentum is real, and the world picks up on fresh energy and matches that authentic tune.

In my humble opinion, the world is wide open (more than ever now) - patiently awaiting the movers, shakers, and doers to step up and curate playful fun through creative events - calling us all back together.

Two local events in Northern New Mexico - Rodeo De Taos and Questa Farmers Market perfectly affirm the sentiment above. This is what Cholla At Me is here for!!

Attending Rodeo De Taos led to meeting some awesome home-grown homies from Questa, more cool cowboys (Eastin and others), and also highlighting the true community benefit this has by putting the kiddos on the main stage for playful races. Community Calls for Connection!

Questa Farmer’s Market was also a VIBE - if you are ever around on a chill-out-style-Sunday, pull up and hangout with Jada (who we had the pleasure to share space with) and others that bring true local products to the fold. A true TREAT!

Soul-Scribed Story:

Rodeo De Taos

Machine-gun photos coming YOUR way (whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words - He was RIGHT)!

There is something special about the openness to others in the community here! Literally right before Eastin and PJ (pictured below) are about to rope ‘n’ ride, I walk up to PJ (father) to make sure he’s okay with me sharing Eastin’s story here. With a warm smile and strong handshake, he confirms and agrees.

Affirming connector: seeing my boy Noah Montoya again! (He was highlighted in Red River Rodeo edition). Also, happened that Noah knows Eastin - which seems “meant to be” to bring on Eastin as the next cool cowboy to showcase! https://news.chollaatme.com/p/outside-brings-in-red-river-rodeo-highlights

Off to the Races: The roping event was electric, fast-paced, and competitive - calling for each team to be dialed-in and ready to tag the steer within seconds.

All Natural: These photos are raw, unedited or unfiltered - reflecting the true feel of a Taos Rodeo… dusty southwestern air with a unique mountainous energy.

Play is the way: But the real banger - was the playful stage opened up for the kids - that had SO MUCH fun running and racing.

Eastin Rosales (pictured above) is our featured cowboy for this week’s edition. Only 16 years young and on the main-stage at his hometown rodeo!

He is 3rd generation roper with home-grown Taos roots. His grandpa was a competitive bronco/bull rider that traveled the country competing in rodeos. Later, roping came into the rotation - which trickled down to Eastin’s dad, PJ - and now to him. “I grew up watching my grandpa, my dad, which made me want to rope,” he said.

I asked if Eastin wanted to expand outside of Taos and go bigger on his rodeo reach. He said, “I would like to compete in more rodeos, but it is tough.” It was news hearing that it’s really about money over skill - where riders don’t need to qualify - more so have the funds to secure a spot. Regardless, Eastin is a young rider with loads of potential to grow!

Gymkhana is a riding session curated specifically for kids/adolescents held on the Taos Rodeo Grounds. It’s a true community event that uplifts the local Northern New Mexico kiddos to learn how to ride - and potentially compete in the future, like Eastin.

If you are based here, or coming through to visit - come check it out! (Info on the flyer below).

Know Eastin or his family? Send them this!

And if you’ve got a young rider in your family worth writing about - hit reply. Happy to uplift anyone in the community to reach higher ground.

Here’s some other HOT happenings in August:

Red River: 8750' BBQ & Music Festival (August 12-16) - Red River's signature summer blowout returns with three days of live music alongside sanctioned cookoff competitions. https://www.8750festival.com/

Santa Fe: Santa Fe Indian Market (104th Annual, August 15-16) - Absolute EPIC art market (world-class). My cool uncle Cole comes out every year just for this one. Stupendous art, don’t miss! https://www.swaia.org/santa-fe-indian-market

Angel Fire: Music from Angel Fire (43rd season, August 13-26) - Great tunes all around the legendary Enchanted Circle - playing in Taos, Angel Fire, and Raton over these two weeks. https://musicfromangelfire.org/festival/

Taos: Taos Mountain Wellness Festival (August 14-16) - Formerly the Taos Mountain Yoga Festival, reimagined around a broader wellness theme — Our True Nature. Three days of yoga, sound healing, dance, and nature writing in the Sangre de Cristos. All levels welcome. https://taosskivalley.com/event/taos-mountain-wellness-festival/

Note of Honest Integrity:

All photos are mine, taken on my camera. Some have been AI-restyled to pair better with the writing. Basically, the moments are real, the rendering is stylized.

ABSOLUTELY NO AI USED IN WRITING AT ALL

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I share these excerpts with the intention to understand through writing, not to lecture or come from a place of superiority.

You are the reader, and I the writer, are one in the same.

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Carry on your light with grace, fellow humans.

CHOLLA AT ME!