Kentucky Derby

Today was the Kentucky Derby. And I may or may not have watched like 4 hours of coverage, covering everything from the bloodlines to the new movie in October about Secretariat.

And the day brought back memories. A few years ago, my Meemaw happened to be in the hospital after suffering a stroke. We were at the hospital visiting her when the Derby aired. Meemaw had this nurse, let's call her Mary. This was Meemaw's favorite part of the race, and she had mentioned that she really wanted to hear it. Well, Mary felt the need to draw some blood (or some other annoying form of torture) right as "My Kentucky Home" was being sung. Instead of being the gracious family that we are, we kindly asked her to leave and come back later. And if looks could kill, poor Mary would be dead! Ah, good times. By the way, Meemaw got to hear the song and as it turned out, the blood was drawn just as easy a few minutes later as it would have been the first time Mary barged in graced us with her presence.

It also makes me think about some great summers I had growing up. My sister and I would spend at least a week or two with Meemaw and Papa every summer. We did it for the sake of my parent's sanity, and just to give them a break. When they drove out to pick us up, we often went as a family to Ruidoso, New Mexico for some horse racing and cool mountain air. They lived in East Texas at the time AKA the hottest place on the planet, so Ruidoso seemed like Antarctica. It was delightful.

It was at Ruidoso Downs that I had my first experience with gambling; I still remember going to the betting window with Papa and got to "bet" on the horse I picked (really, he was doing the betting---I was underage, but I loved going with him to watch). I rarely won anything big (although I didn't lose nearly as much as my sister did---hahahahahaha), but it was wonderful. We watched the horses prance out a few minutes before race time, then we bet on the "prettiest" ones, or the ones with the coolest names. In my sister's case, she bet for the one that was sure to lose. ;) It's an inside joke in our family; poor Katie just isn't good at picking horses. Her horse is the one that throws the jockey off or the one who nudges the other horses out of the way, getting disqualified. I called her today and told her to watch Homeboykris in today's race, because I had read about him, and knew this was her horse to cheer for: "He has a great chance to finish last." Poor Homeboykris; don't be too sad. Katie feels your pain. :)
For the record, I think Homeboykris came in 18th out of 20.

And of course, you can't talk about the Kentucky without talking about the fashion, too. So I'll leave you with some crazy hats (with free commentary, you're welcome). Happy Saturday loves!

If I had to guess, I'd say this guy is as gay as Elton himself.

Seriously, how in the world are people behind these big hat wearin' folks supposed to be able to see anything? I guess if you have a ticket to the Kentucky Derby you just have an understanding that your chances of actually seeing the race is out of the question.




And let's not forget the enormous flower hats. No Derby is complete without them, of course. And heaven forbid they be the size of a normal flower.






If you don't like flowers, you can wear a horse on your head instead.











And if you don't like flowers or horses (in which case why in the world are you even at the Kentucky Derby), then you can wear a replica of Churchill Downs. Whatever floats your boat.






Who needs a hat when you can just die your hair?

And if you are really cheap, just grab your child's swim toy, blow it up, and call it a hat. Just don't forget your snorkel.

Now, for some fashion.

Apparently, clothing is optional.

That kid is gonna be a heartbreaker one day.

Apparently, pastels and bright colors (that don't match, I might add) are "in" at the Kentucky Derby. And let's not forget matching suits from the 1960s.