Fate. I Blame Fate.

Life changes in many different ways. Some are dramatic, some are subtle. Some are intentional, others are purely accidental. Sometimes the results are immediate, and sometimes the larger picture becomes clear only in hindsight.

I'm not exactly sure when yodeling become legitimately important in my life, but it's now positively undeniable that it is. Yep. Yodeling.

I just spent a week in Colorado, you see, and I had many experiences. I got to spend a lot of great time with my awesome wife, and it was great. I got to connect with my old buddy Shannon, and it was great. I got to hike to Mills Lake in the Rocky Mountains, and it was ridiculously fabulous. I got to hang out for a few days at a ministry conference, and it was generally pretty lame, but I got to meet and hang out with a whole boatload of great guys, and it was great. But all of these things were, more or less, expected.

What took me completely by surprise was the entertainment one night at the conference -- the Colorado Wranglers. Now let me be honest -- I didn't thing they sounded like something that I'd be digging on. At all. And, once again, I was (mostly) dead-on. Hey -- they were good, professional, fun, cheery, etc., but just really, REALLY not my style. Until they began chatting away about some of the unwritten rules and regulations regarding being a cowboy western band. They were as follow: 1) Sing in harmony (check), 2) Have a fiddle player (I thought it was a violin, but they're the experts, and they say "check"), and 3) Have a yodeler (WHAT?!). This was shocking for a couple reasons -- 1) I thought I was the only person ever to come across gospel yodeling, and 2) it was sounding like they were going to be able to meet the criteria . . . and I was not disappointed. They did a yodeling song.

Now before we get too far out of hand, let's get a couple things straight. 1) This was NO Buzz Goertzen. As far as yodeling goes, it was pretty entry level. Now I don't think the Wranglers would mind me saying so -- I think they'd agree themselves. By no means are they a yodeling act, so much as an act that contains a yodeling piece. There's a world of difference there, kids, and we need to be sure precisely where we're standing on this stuff. 2) I didn't "like" it. As in, I wouldn't hear it and think "yep, that's some darn enjoyable yodeling right there, now!" Because it just wasn't. I don't "like" yodeling in the first place, and it was mediocre yodeling even at that. I can't stress the point too much.

Through all of this, though, I can't deny . . . it was AWESOME! Have you ever been at a sporting event and had terrible seats, but something amazing happened? You might not have really even SEEN it, per se, but nonetheless, afterwards you and your buddy are screaming and will forever tell the story about the greatest thing you ever "saw". Or how about your first date? Looking back -- and maybe even at the time -- it was more awkward than anything, and probably the "relationship" went nowhere . . . but DANG! You were with a girl! And she even wanted to be there for part of it! AWESOME!!! And so we remember this moment fondly, right? Well this was it. This was my first live yodeling experience. We'd been making eyes at one another for some time, but in the moment I was caught completely unaware, and the suddenness only added to the amazement. It really happened. I was there. I saw a dude yodel, for real. I would say it was the kind of thing that only happens in the movies, but who's ever seen a movie with yodeling?

Now I'm in too far, and I don't think there can be any retreat. I'm one of them now, you see -- I've seen too much, and if I go to the powers that be I'll be incriminating myself too. The door has been closed behind me, and the only way to go is further in. I'm a part of the yodeling culture now, and I'm only even, like, 85% unhappy about it. That little but growing piece of me is becoming more and more enamored, engaged, enthusiastic.

Now if only ol' Buzz will accept my myspace friend request . . . .