The Golden Gate & a Horse's Ass (250/366)

TIME: 6:13 pm
PLACE: Legion of Honor, San Francisco

SUBJECT: Golden Gate Bridge

SUBJECT: The rear view of El Cid Campedor (1920) by Anna Hyatt Huntington

*~*~*

I am spending the next few days visiting my brother in California.

My vacation got off to a great start when we had to de-board the plane because one of the crew members wasn't feeling well.

There was a 2-hour delay while they re-sanitized the plane and found another crew member to work the flight.  I missed my connection in Denver and had to wait another 2 hours there to catch a flight to San Francisco.

I lost 4 hours of vacation - not horrible, but when you only have a short time at your destination, every hour counts. 

My brother and sister-in-law picked me up at the airport and we drove into the city to pick up some fish and fried avocado tacos. 

We were going to go to the beach and eat them. But that plan went to hell too. This was because it was a rare sunny, very hot (in the 100's) day, it was Labor Day weekend and the public parking lots were closed to discourage a crowd at the beach. So of course, EVERYONE was there.  Social distancing was not happening at all.

My brother suggested we go to the Legion of Honor and sit on the grass there instead.

That worked - we easily found a parking spot and there were not very many people.  Successful social distancing was practiced! 

We had a nice view of the rear of the horse too.

Twice the StellaDella (048/365)

TIME: 1:28 PM
PLACE: Downtown
SUBJECT: StellaDella

We ran some last minute Christmas errands this morning, then headed downtown to check out the German Market and the shops.

Miss SD was looking good, and the light was nice so HH and I made her pose in front of the mirrored building.  Doesn’t she look so excited to do this?

We may or may not have bribed her with the promise of sushi for lunch.

The line for the horse-drawn trolley rides was pretty long.

We did not ride, but I did get this cute picture of a horse nose.

Not as cute as SD, but still cute nevertheless.

Horse Selfie (192/365)

TIME: 1:06 PM
PLACE:  Highway 3
SUBJECT: Claudia & Dreamer

Claudia and I wandered around looking for used cars this morning.
On our travels, we passed a field that had miniature horses in it.
We then noticed the “Yard Sale” sign in the driveway and decided to check it out.
There was a 2-week old colt running around the sale.
Her name was “Dreamer”
Dreamer licked my toes and the back of Claudia’s knees.


Her mama whinnied for her and she went over nursed

~*~*~
Later that evening, we went to watch some fireworks.
I gave Stella my little camera and showed her how to use the “Fireworks” button.

She took this:


Pretty good.

Beer Sign (210/365)

“The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip.”

Henny Youngman (British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", 1906-1998)

TIME:  10:23 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack, Party At The Park
SUBJECT:  Neon beer sign

As is tradition, I went to the horseraces to celebrate my cousin’s birthday.  This year I placed bets on the odd races - $1.00 Exacta boxes <= sounds like I knew what I was doing right?  Ha!  Sadly, I didn’t win a single one.  Must be the horses fault.  To the glue factory with them all!

Horse Shadows (076/365)

“Horse, you flame thrower,
you shark-mouthed man,
you laughter at the end of poems,
you brown furry locomotive
whipping the snow, I am
a pale shadow beside you.”

Anne Sexton (1928-1974), U.S. poet. "Horse."

TIME:  4:16 PM
PLACE:  Living room
SUBJECT:  Horse figures

It was a beautiful, lovely, sunny and warm St. Patrick’s Day.  I spent the morning with my sister, got my hair cut and walked up to the school with the dog at 3pm to pick up Miss StellaDella.  After arriving home, she spent some time bothering her brother and his friend, then brought up the box of Schleich animal figures and set them up on the living room floor in the sunshine that streamed through the open front door.  I loved the long shadows they cast on the floor.

Horse Hooky (229/365)

 
“I bet on a horse at ten-to-one.  It didn't come in until half-past five.”

Henny Youngman (British-born comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", 1906–1998)

TIME:  1:04 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack
SUBJECT:  Horse & jockey

Being the good mothers that we are, my sister and I took the kids to the racetrack this afternoon.  We consumed $1.00 hotdogs and 0.75 cent sodas; I bought a tip sheet and proceeded to lose each and every race where I placed a bet.  Heck, I couldn’t even pick the right window to place my bet ~ I always seemed to get in the one queue that had issues.  My sister did win once, on the first bet she made – she received a whole $2.40 on her $2.00 bet.  Oh yeah, we are the original high stakes gamblers.

A Night At The Races (211/365)

 
"The only decent people I ever saw at the racecourse were horses."

James Joyce (Irish novelist, 1882-1941)

TIME:  10:17 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack
SUBJECT: Race 7 start (One mile on the dirt)

My cousin’s (and BFF’s) birthday is tomorrow (the 31st) and we celebrated tonight by going to the horse races.  It poured down rain prior to the 1st post time and rained during the first couple of races.  The track conditions were sloppy.  I didn’t place any bets, I’m not a big gambler and the horse I *really* wanted to bet on, “Greattobeabeaver,” was scratched in the 7th race.  (Because you have the mind of a 12-year-old boy, you giggled when you read that, …admit it). 

On Tuesday afternoons, they have a 1:00pm post time and “Horse Hooky Specials”: $1.50 admission, 75 cent soft drinks, $1.00 hotdogs and $1.50 draft beer.  Hmmmm, maybe I should take the munchkins.  I really think they’d like to see the horses run. 

Foal (156/365)

"Poor little Foal of an oppressed race!
I love the languid patience of thy face."

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. *To a Young Ass, Its Mother Being Tethered Near It.” 1794.

TIME: 2:20 PM
PLACE: Just south of town
SUBJECT: Foal

I picked up DramaQueen from her overnight adventure and on the way home, spotted some horses in a field. Unfortunately, they were on the other side of the 2 lane highway and traffic was steady. I pulled way over on the shoulder and told DQ that I was getting out to take a photo. I would have crossed the lanes and obtained a better shot, but DQ was very nervous about me being so close to the highway and was afraid that I would get hit by a car, so I stayed by the Jeep and quickly took a couple of shots. This is as good as it gets today.