January 4 - I Hear

What do I hear today the photaday challenge asked me? Thundering hooves, the crackling of the loudspeaker across the grounds, the chatter of voices around me, the rising crescendo of the crowds from the grandstand as the horses neared, kids crying, kids laughing, dogs barking... all mixed into one glorious noise in my ears. 

The local summer race circuit is happening in our little neck of South Island currently.  I'm a seasoned race goer, when I say seasoned I mean I'm spent years getting sozzled at country race meets everywhere back home in Aus.  Every picnic race meet or town gold cup I was there.  Seventeen hour round trip for races out back of woop woop? Hell to the yes, great weekender.  Give me a back road and a good set of driving lights and I'd drive all night.  (Side note, still can't get used to the no roo thing here. I still drive in the dark here on the look out ready for them.  So far the biggest thing I'd be likely to hit in my area is a penguin.  Our 4x4 we bought over with us is a little overdone for that and the only one with a full frontal replacement bullbar and sidebars on it - along with the rest of the gear.  I imagine the penguins run for cover when they see it coming)

Anyway, horse racing.  I'm subdued these days.  (See last entry below)  I'm getting on in age and I'm obviously  really, really mature now.  We won't discuss this years Albury Gold Cup event where I fell asleep in my own driveway of course... So anyway today I went to the races for the first time in about eight months.  Lovely to see some horses again (I'm horse mad, so horse mad that horses need their own entry) and was stoked to be at the races again. We drank in the sun, lost some dollars, cheered the ponies and all in all had a great day.  

I reminisced about my youth and all those race days of the past.  The fashions of the field, the time I was in Top Ten on Melbourne Cup Day at Orange Races and they decided to televise it on WIN News and the champagne they gave us in the judging tent (plus everything else I had drunk prior) went to my head and I had a woopsie slide in my heels during the catwalk. Right in front of the camera and crowds. Good times. Good times.  Birdsville Races in a massive dust storm, Warren Cotton Cup antics, Cowra Picnics which often magically fell on my birthday and was a double header weekend as you backed it up with Condo B and S the next day. Ohhhh so many memories all tied up with just the races. Friends and laughs I will never forget, or never regret. 

And here is the picture of what I heard today, that I originally came here for. Run pony run. Enjoy.