About 300 miles into the nowhere lies Eddyville, NE (pop. 94).
For the curious, if you MapQuest it, you’ll have to use the zoom tool or you’ll never find it–ever. To be sure, there’s not much in Eddyville; a gas station, a general store, a couple of bars and a post office so tiny that it’s hard to fathom how anyone wearing a cowboy hat could get car keys or stamps (much less a letter) in or out of the front door.
And tonight, under a vast Nebraska sky, some of the Great Plain’s best cowboys and cowgirls are getting ready to test their skills in this old broken-down arena.
Truth be told, I always look forward to this rodeo and I’ve come to love this little town.
Can’t really say why with any certainty.
Perhaps it’s because Eddyville is so far off the map it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
Or better yet, maybe Eddyville is one of the few places in the world where simply sitting on the top rung of a cast-iron fence under a warm summer’s night sky brings you to the realization that it is indeed possible to understand everything that needs to be understood.
Who knew?
Barrel Rider chasing cans, Eddyville, NE
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