BY A NOSE!!!!!

 Sometimes ... most times really .. you just have to go with the flow.  Mother Nature opted to water California once again, which is okay with me.  I shut the sprinklers off as the clouds began to wander across the sky.  

On the other hand, it means I'm stuck inside.  Maybe a little more sewing on that quilt would pass the time.  That's when I heard it.  I knew that gutter was once again plugged up.  What the heck?  There are no more leaves around anywhere.  All the other ones are doing their job fabulously, but this one ... it's being the black sheep of the lot.

You know what happened ... I got drenched as I walked under the 6 foot wide waterfall to bang on the pipes.  No way could I use the ladder.  Will wonders never cease ... it actually cleared out whatever was holding up the waterworks, and it emptied quite nicely ... all over my tennis shoes.  Success!!!  Soggy and VERY damp around the edges, I went back inside.  

I sewed a little more and watched a little rodeo until I remembered ... IT'S KENTUCKY DERBY DAY!  I have fond memories of the Triple Crown when Big Brown raced in the Belmont Stakes.  He already won TWO of the three races. 

I was on a trip in New York City with friends who wanted to see the race track.  Turns out we were going to be there for the Belmont Stakes.  Let's GO!  

It happens to be located in Elmont New York .... FAR from the REAL New York.  If you've ever been in New York subways, you know.  It's an underground labyrinth made for rats.  After a couple of false starts, we made it to the TRAIN station in time to head to Elmont.  We arrived at the race track and walked around for all of 30 minutes.  Big Brown was the talk of the town.  He was going to win the Triple Crown!!

Just to be sure of our time, we asked when the train was going BACK to New York City.  NEVER they said ... it's not going back.  You have to get to the next town to find another train, the last of which leaves in an hour.  YIKES!!  Desperation set in.  We found a nice Policeman who gave us the scoop.  Take a taxi, but beware ... it's a bad part of town and the drivers are crooks and thieves.  OH GREAT!!

And so we got a Police escort the first mile to find a legit taxi driver that wouldn't rob us, got dropped off at a very sketchy train station platform (with no inside waiting room and no outside lights), where we stood back to back to be sure we wouldn't be robbed until the train showed up.  We made it back in one piece, but missed the race altogether.  Big Brown had a terrible race, on which we had bet all our money.  That was the end of my horse betting career!

Here we are at the start of THIS year's Kentucky Derby, the 150th running.  These are the front runners.  Notice that none of these guys were in the finish line picture.

See the guy at the rail near the middle white statue?  You can barely see his jersey and white pants.  That is Mystik Dan.  He's about halfway back.

These horses ... man they can run!!!  Seems to me it never turns out like people think it will ... and so it was on this day.  These three ... Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone and Forever Young ... came across the finish line neck and neck.  The white mirror on the pole is the actual finish line.  

Here's the official winning photo.  Mistik Dan by LESS than a nose!!  Sierra Leone is at the bottom, followed by Forever Young in the middle.  I have never EVER seen a race this close before!  The projected winner wasn't even in the picture.

This is the first of the triple crown races.  The Kentucky Derby is run in Louisville Kentucky, the next being the Preakness is at Pimlico in Baltimore Maryland later this month, followed by the Belmont Stakes in Elmont New York.  I'll definitely be watching that last one!!

Thus ended a rainy day that didn't stop until about 4:00.  We got half an inch, while Texas is flooding terribly.  I can mark that one off my move-to list.  It was a tough choice ... horses, cowboys, tornados, floods, heat ........  CHECK!