This Should Work

I like I was stating earlier, I had a great weekend filled with bird watching, dining with celebrities, and betting on horses.

Makin’ a new home
Saturday morning I noticed a bird repeatedly landing on our tree, each time it had twig in its mouth. I watched this bird (I think it’s a sparrow) build part of it’s next in our tree. My wife’s a little worried about nest because of the crazy squirrels that climb our tree and eat out of the bird feeder. It’s possible that all the bouncing around the squirrels do could knock the nest out of the tree, but I’m guessing the bird knows what it’s doing. Having a nest in my tree reminds of when I was young- I once found a bird’s nest at the top of an apple tree in our backyard (there’s more to that story, but I’ll save that for later).

Hangin’ with Ms. Vowell
Most of my Saturday afternoon and evening was spent at The Kentucky Women Writers Conference. I went to a panel of Graphic novelists including Phoebe Glockner and Amy Kim Ganter, both of whom have amazing work. The discussion was pretty interesting, but unfortunately the panel was in held in a gymnasium type place and there was no stage. I spent most of the panel leaning left and right trying to see past the people in front of me to figure out who was speaking.

My wife, who is on the Writers board, was fortunate enough to be the liasion for the Key Note speaker of the conference, Sarah Vowell. I’ve been a big fan of Sarah’s work for a while so I was thrilled to be able to help my wife out her duties by delivering dinner for her and Ms. Vowell. They decided on Billy’s BBQ (which in my opinion is the best in town) so I picked up the food and we all sat outside on a picnic bench for dinner. I wasn’t sure what to expect from meeting her (I’ve read her work so I thought I had an idea about what she might be like, but that could also just be a public persona). She turns out to be a really cool person. We talked about where we grew up, theories on the TV show Lost, and food. At one point she said “So this is what it’s like to hangout with me. Rad, isn’t it?” Actually it was. I was nice to hang out with someone who is as famous as Sarah Vowell and find out that she is also a regular person, and that she’s willing to show that side of her. Sarah enjoyed the food; I enjoyed the good company of her and my wife.

On a side note, at Sarah Vowell’s book signing I was standing in line waiting to get my book signed when I decided to buy another book from the merchandise table. The woman at the table asked me “Are you Dr. Schoenfeld’s husband?”

I paused for a moment and thought ‘do I know a Dr. Schoenfeld? . . . Oh yeah! That’s my wife!”

I replied “Yeah, I am. It took me a moment to think about that because I never call her that.”

“That’s okay,” she replied “I was in her class last year and I think she’s great! We’re so lucky to have her here!”

Go Dr. Schoenfeld!

Bettin’ on the ponies
Sunday, my friend Chad invited me to go to the Keeneland Race Tracks here in town. It was my first trip to the tracks, so I was surprised (and somewhat disturbed) to see a sign that read “Parking-Gate 1. Drive Thru Betting-Gate 2.” I went through Gate 1.

Once inside, I spent a few minutes looking at the horses for the next race. There’s a tradition of “walking up” the horses in an area where the public can view the horses up and close. I was close enough to these horses that I could see the veins in their legs.

After playing cell-phone tag with my friend for a while we finally found each other by the Bloody Mary stand and went to find watch the race. He asked if I wanted to bet on this race, he had a few bucks on a horse called Rusty Trawler, but I told him I’d sit this one out. I should have gone in because Rusty Trawler, an 8-1 favorite, finished second. Chad had Rusty Trawler to place (finish in the top two) and won some money.

He told me “Don’t try and over think this whole betting thing, just put a couple of bucks on the horse has the best name.” We later decided that it’s similar to picking a winner in football by their uniform colors- it has nothing to do with skill or athleticism and everything to do with style.

So I got in on the next race I went to the ticket counter and placed my first bet on a track. It was a little nerve racking. There are signs every stating exactly what you need to tell the ticket agent and in what order. It goes like this:

• Say race number, then
• Say the amount to bet, then
• Say what type of bet (Win, Place, Show, Trifecta, etc), then
• Say the number of horse in the race.

I had to practice over and over in my head how to say it so I wouldn’t mess up. I got wrong. I ended up placing one bet on a 30-1 horse (Oxford Wedding) to show (make it in the top three) and one bet on 10-1 horse (Sheba’s Gold). Meant to place a bet on a 5-1 horse (Cryptoquip) but for whatever reason I said the number of the Oxford Wedding instead of Cryptoquip. Niether Sheba’s Gold nor Oxford Wedding finished in the top three (Oxford Wedding finished dead last) I ended up losing the first time out. No problem, I bet a total of $3.00 on the two horses.

The next race I had to make a decision between betting on the race or getting a beer (the lines were long at both the betting and concession window). I looked at the names of the horses for the next race, the only one that stood out to me a 6-1 horse called Rasta Farian. I chose the beer, but I should have spent the money on the race. They only serve Bud Light and Rasta Farian won the race.

I placed money on a 5-1 horse named Aristocrat (mainly because of the movie) to show (place in the top three). Aristocrat came in second and I won!

I felt like luck was on my side so I put some money down on the next to last race. I wanted to put my money on a horse named Aunt Henny, but it scratched so I moved my bet to another horse named Lady of Venice (8-1 odds) to place. The horse won the race and I won again!

I thought about putting all my winnings on the last race, but decided against it. It was ther right call because the horse that I would have placed money on, Close Secret (3-1 odds) came in fourth.

Keeneland sometimes feels more like an amusement park than a race track with all the cotton candy and souvenirs, but the horse racing will keep me coming back. Not the betting (which is fun), but the feel of being so close to the action. At one point I was leaning on the railings with the horses racing right by. There is nothing like the thrill of having these magnificent creates running so close that you can feel rumbling in the ground.

Click the photo below to see a few more pictures from Keeneland.

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