I needed a change. Our National Kitchen was boiling, and Chef Obama was no where in sight. I just knew my parents, Edith and Harry would be at Del Mar studying the racing form for the summer meet. And Besides, San Diego had been run over by Comical looking folks.
I returned from the new downtown library and made a call to my daughter. She sounded perplexed. "Dad's there are drones flying over Roxbury Park, in Beverly Hills. I believe our president is politicking again. Why Isn't he aware that a wars are going on over the world.?"
"Dear, just enjoy yourself today. Stay inside since it is going to be another hot one. And be happy a guided missile is not coming into your backyard...as eventually it will."
I made two tuna sandwiches and got ready for my 12:30 appointment for the Coaster train to Solana Beach. For a minute or two I sat on the 'Y"s Stairs and enjoyed Comic-Com scenery. An older man walked by and stopped.
"I will try, but it is difficult. My wife died last week, but at least she is in a better place."
"That is where you are wrong sir. You are now walking in a better place, San Diego." I got a smile out of him and left for the 12:30 Coaster. At about 12:20 the Coaster train arrived at the Santa Fe Depot. An endless throng of Comic-Com personalities came off the long train. The conductor told me it was at least more than one thousand. people. They had been crushed like sardines.
I go on and looked forward with my time with Harry and Edith, my parents. We spent many a-summer vacationing in the forties at the Del Mar Hotel. We met Jimmy Durante, Betty Grable and lots of horses running on the beach. I played kiddie tennis with a girl named Penny. I was told that Buddy Clark was her father. (I found out she died in a car accident later that month. I believe he was a well known song writer.)
The first time I went with my Dad, I believe in the forties. He bet on a horse called On Trust and Vino Fino beat him out. As you can tell, the races must have made an impact on me at an early age. And today I will certainly make sure my grand daughters, Spring and Summer have a run at the track.
After a bus ride to the park, I removed my Diamond Card to enter the grandstand at half price, or three dollars. I carried my Ralph's shopping bag with sandwiches and also my Canon camera. I wished to capture the image of the track today. Today I would not bet a farthing. By the way, the Diamond card get you in free on Wednesday and also can be used as a debit card.
In the second race for six furlongs, I removed my camera. I wanted a picture of the horses entering the stretch. The number 11 left the gate too fast and I knew it would quit. But there it was ahead and going away by three lengths as my camera went off.
The Tote Board did show it was number 11 that won the race. I could not believe what it paid: $108 for two dollar bet. I looked over at the man next to me. He had a racing form in front of him. "Is there anything in that form that would make him a winner?" He, like other betters, was in a dour mood. The Hawaiian obliged me since sex never entered the mind of the wagerers.
"He won two races after the last which he lost by three lengths." He obviously was in a sour mood as almost everyone did not pick Mr. Sexy.
In the fifth race, I had a hunch on a new rider down from Los Alamitos. Patty the Hat told me about a jockey named Van Dyke. She had won several races betting him and even had taken a picture with him. I met her on Amtrak during the Los Alamitos meet.
Again, I did not bet, and besides the above jockey rode silks number 13. It's name was Lil Swiss Echo. Turning for home, the horse seemed to stop and then his leg folded up like a rule. The jockey fell and turned over like a rag doll, over and over.
There was a hush in the crowd. The horse tried to gallop, but on one leg. Curtains were placed around the horse where it was euthanized. A large van took him off the track. At least there no longer would be any starting gates for him. It was the fifth horse to go down in this early meet. Of course I felt sick. I felt sorry for its sire and mare.
I left after the sixth race and jumped on a bus that took me to the station. There, a Coaster train returned me back to San Diego. The five forty Coaster railed me back to San Diego. I felt great to have been at the great race place. (At the time of editing, eight horses have gone down. The turf course will be MRI'd to find out why.)
Nuts and Bolts: I came to Encinitas today on Amtrack. The conductor usually places a tag over our head so she knows when are stop arrives.
"Where you headed today, sir...Now no more of your wisecracks."
"HellifIknow," I replied.
"You must me joking, where are you going?"
The above was repeated several times. But it summarizes how I spend every day. I am life's daily stowaway, and never quite know where my kayak will take me.
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