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I grew up in Kentucky and there are some things I really miss about it now that I live in Florida: the hills of Eastern Kentucky, the changes of the seasons, (incredibly green springtimes, lightning bugs on summer evenings, fire-colored leaves in the fall), southern living, most of my family is still there, and the Kentucky Derby. I should note that, while Florida is geographically further south than Kentucky, most of Florida is not very southern. And sometimes it’s better for me to be several hundred miles away from my family. But that’s another story….

Today is Derby Day. My family is not “horse people.” I never really learned to ride, although I have been trail riding a few times. We never owned horses and certainly never sit on millionaire Row. But, most people in Kentucky don’t own horses (or get to millionaire Row). That doesn’t make us any less proud of the Derby. Besides, any old excuse will do for a party. In and around Louisville there are race-related activities for a week leading up to Derby Day.

Born in the valley
And raised in the trees
Of Western Kentucky
On wobbly knees
With mama beside you
To help you along
You’ll soon be a growing up strong.

All the long, lazy mornings
In pastures of green
The sun on your withers
The wind in your mane
Could never prepare you
For what lies ahead
The run for the roses so red –

And it’s run for the roses
As fast as you can
Your fate is delivered
Your moment’s at hand
It’s the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And it’s high time you joined
In the dance
It’s high time you joined
In the dance –

One of my coworkers opined that horse racing is a boring sport. (He started with, “No offense intended…” of course.) Personally, I find baseball a lot more boring, but I understand why he might feel like that. A day at the races (or at home watching them on TV, which is a lot more comfortable and usually provides a better view of the actual races) means about two minutes of racing every hour or so. It’s more like a picnic with periodic injections of adrenalin.

At the track, they want to make sure everyone has time to place bets, they recondition the track after every race, they often have to reposition the starting gate as the races are not all the same length, and there’s the pomp and circumstance of parading the entries out for every race. Hey, people stand in line for two hours to take a three-minute ride on Space Mountain down here at Disney World. I’d rather be sitting in the shade sipping a cool beverage.

From sire to sire
It’s born in the blood
The fire of a mare
And the strength of a stud
It’s breeding and it’s training
And it’s something unknown
That drives you and carries
You home.

And it’s run for the roses
As fast as you can
Your fate is delivered
Your moment’s at hand
It’s the chance of a lifetime
In a lifetime of chance
And it’s high time you joined
In the dance
It’s high time you joined
In the dance –

I won’t be able to watch the race live this year. I’m leaving in a few minutes to watch a play. (I’ll write about that in the next day or so.) But I’ll look for the replay on the news tonight. And I’ll spend a little time day-dreaming about my old Kentucky home.

Run for the Roses by Dan Fogelberg