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Long weekend coming to a close. Sure, Monday morning feels like part of the weekend. Well, this part of Monday morning, when I’m at the computer, fresh-brewed coffee, wife and son asleep and a blank screen to fill. In a bit, when I walk to the barn to feed Gameboy and bring in Apse, Eagle … Read more
Race Day. Up early, with a to-do list and a departure time. Off to Willowdale for a seven-race card. Weather forecast improving in Pennsylvania while it’s drizzling here in Middleburg. Car full of hats, boots, jackets. Hopefully, they stay there. But it is Willowdale when the weather seems to play lead role more often than … Read more
The following situation needs some explanation. Hopefully the story below does it justice.
As Coach Tom Law says, “The miles don’t run themselves.” I need deadlines. Everybody needs deadlines. 3.161825726141079. That’s the average daily mileage for the rest of the year to achieve the iRun Local Challenge. Time to get to work.
The barn awaits. Every Monday. Like a tollboth. Overcast, a little rain last night, enough to water the grass, settle the dust, that’s all. Riverdee’s Lemonade Thursday finished third, ran OK, got a little tired but was no match for Repeat Repeat and Animal Kingston at Middleburg Saturday. Gibralfaro learned how to handle the Alfred … Read more
Not all Derby moments are winning ones. Here’s one from the 2021 edition that will stick around a while.
If the wind shifts the right way and the announcer senses a photo finish, we can hear the call from our front porch. The Middleburg Spring Races and its fall counterpart, the Virginia Fall Races, at Glenwood Park serve as our local venue, our corner pub. A couple of miles by car and shorter by … Read more
Fighting a development down the street. Middleburg Preserve. Isn’t it ironic. A housing development named for exactly what it’s destroying. Here’s an excerpt from my 2 1/2-minute speech, er, plea, to the Board of Supervisors last week. We want an emergency zoning change in St. Louis, this is simply to right a wrong, to follow the 2019 … Read more
In May, you go to Saratoga because . . . well, I don’t know exactly. Sam and I needed a new location to take all these virtual meetings, it couldn’t hurt The Saratoga Special planning to make an appearance and it had generally been awhile. Oh yeah, a friend’s house was empty.
An editor once told me, stop apologizing for not writing and write. Well, here’s a quick apology, sorry, I’ve been absent lately and I’ll get writing. Brutal weekend. We made the agonizing decision to put down Teddy Sunday night. An old soul, part of our family, a stoic, singular character who lived his best life … Read more
