Horseracing at the LA County Fair (24)

The intensity of driving to Pomona, the old, big, concreteness of it all. The huge endless stretch of parking, the steady stream of cars and people. Waiting in line, excited, childlike, bouncing. Walking through the fair, taking in the booths as I passed but heading straight to the racetrack. The vastness of it all. A long sunny day, alternating between handicapping the races and leaning on the rail at the saddling paddock watching the horses, searching for my sense of each one. Three times in a row my choices turned out to be "schoolers," horses who were getting accustomed to the paddock and the spectators, likely in a race over the coming weekend. Funny, though, a recognition of quality, of caliber, not based on anything "real," not learned. All day my horses finished in the money, though not often as I'd placed money on them.

This seven horse was my favorite of the horses who were actually racing that day, Subsidized, a three-year-old filly with Martin Pedroza riding, heading out here for the post parade before the 11th race. She won like it was easy for her. I left saturated with the life of the racetrack and still yearning for my own Sonoma County Fair. The drive home strained, slowed by accidents. The setting sun a huge fuzzy orange ball in my side view mirror. The relief of leaving the concrete and the craziness behind. Dark mountains looming and welcome, the desert wilderness breathing as I drove through the coming of night. My gratitude spilling, to be able to retreat, to pretend I don't live so close to all that, to have chosen well in my southern California home.

Eat Pray Love Walk (23)

I went to see Eat Pray Love at the Regal Cinemas, my first time at that theater and hence by my strange rules qualifying as a new thing. (Can seeing a movie for the first time not be a new thing, too?) I set up my rewards card with them, look forward to earning a free ticket. I got a kick out of it, felt my exuberance bubble up. I enjoyed watching Julia Roberts because I think she's wonderful. Then I went out into the hot late afternoon and roamed the neighborhood. It held my favorite view, my southern hills, and a small gated community with gorgeous colors and huge second-floor patios that drew me. It was Labor Day and Palm Springs hot, deserted except for one man taking pictures of the little church on the corner. I walked slowly and savored the luxury of the leisure in the day, the lingering matinee mood, the quiet streets, the stunning view. My impromptu stroll on that late afternoon was extraordinary in its stillness, its simplicity, a memory bound to linger.