We had a wonderful Derby party until the bummer of an ending when the stewards took away the Derby from the best horse in the field and gave it away to the second horse.

The track was extremely sloppy and it was raining.  Derby is always a crap shoot because 20 horses on American racetracks is a source of profit but a potential disaster for horses and jockeys.  It ups the chance horses and jockeys will get injured.  Sometimes the best horse in the field id stuck behind two many horses because it drew a far inside or far outside post. Maximum Security led the race just about every second. If you want to see how to handle a large number of horses on the track at once, get up early in the morning and watch some British races.  They do it in two packs on tracks that are at least twice as wide as the ones we’re accustomed to.

I put out gravlax we made, 4 kinds of cheese, shrimp, hot mushrooms stuffed with tuna, spanakopita and guacamole.  People brought many goodies including 4 desserts. We had 21 friends over.  Some of our best friends stayed and helped clean up.

I was fine though disappointed in the outcome. Then Tuesday came.

If you want to lose weight – myself, I like flesh on my bones and think as women age, we look better zoftik rather than gaunt— forget Weight watchers and fad diets, fasting or any other means.  Just get gastroenteritis, if that’s that I caught. I’ve lost 12 lbs.  I didn’t care to but I did.  I probably will lose another before this has completely run its course.

The school shooting in Colorado prompted a poem on Friday.  Since it was very political, it’s always hard to place those poems and I wanted to get it out. By Thursday afternoon, I could think clearly but was of course not fit for much else.   I posted it on FB with the statement people could repost it any way they wished.  I got about 220 responses so far and then two publications wanted it, one online, one print, in spite of knowing what I’d done.  It’s called U.S. You can find it still on my website.

Now it’s raining again, as usual lately, but we had three glorious days of sunshine when I was crazy to go outside but couldn’t get out of bed to do it.  I was too feverish and weak.  Slowly I’m healing but it’s fucking slow.  I resent having little energy.  I hate moving slowly.  I’m weary of  having to endure fever in the evenings.

The gardens are thriving but I have stuff that needed to go in my garden days ago –cayenne peppers and into the herb bed, summer savory and sweet marjoram I started inside. The summer savory is trying to crawl out of the greenhouse.

The cats are very needy.  I’m something I rarely experience –boredom.