Day 2110: Smiling at the tv ...

memories: junk mail collage, photo & digital

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Click here for Nobuyuki Tsujii, Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18

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I caught myself smiling at the tv ...

amidst a whole bunch of memories.

It's that time of year when I hunker down and watch ...

the 144th Kentucky Derby.

Horses leave the starting gate, photo bu John Minchillo/AP

  

Three inches of rain and a crowded race of 20 on a muddy track.

photo by Darron Cummings/AP

 

photo bu Kiichiro Sato/AP

Mike Smith rides Justify to win the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky.  (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

More than 50 years, but I was stirred by so many memories.

Thinking ... yes some horses love the rain, others tolerate. 

I watched the jockeys and remembered their athleticism.

A soft spot for the stable hands & their care for the horses.

I remembered rubbing the horse's muscular neck.

Their whole body like a high performance engine, ready.

Feeling the soft nuzzle with hairs that tickled.

Their eyes that could be relaxed or on alert.

There's a special tie between a young girl and a horse. Fact.

 I was 11, when my Mom pulled me out of school 

and we flew to Sydney, Australia where she married Des. 

My step-Dad was world a world renowned race horse trainer. 

So from boarding school to having my own horse, dog, 

cat, magpie and even a cockatoo, was quite a change.

Des had a large stable and training facility in Melbourne. 

Even though he had stable boys I learned to work too.

I learned to switch from riding Western to English, 

and sometimes got to help with morning workouts.

When not in school, I'd go along with Des to races.

He would give me $20 to bet and sometimes gave hints.

I would put away $10 and only bet $10, so no matter what 

I came home with $10 more than I went with, but often, more.
I lived there for four year, a huge part of my life. TMI?

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

A smile for Sunday ...