Broke my slump and won on Friday, a beautiful weather day. The good weather is expected to last through Tuesday at least. My friend Bob comes from Boston this morning to join me for four or five days. Dinner last night was Gennaro’s pizza. Delicious! For lunch everyday I make my own salad in the room and bring it to the track. No overpriced junk food at the track for me. Plus, I promised Elaine I would eat my vegetables.
Click on the gallery to bring up a scroll-able window with complete pictures (the gallery preview below shows just thumbnails of the pictures)
Day two wasn’t good. Rain off and on all day until about 4:30 pm when the front finally finished passing through and the sun came out. The forecast through next Wednesday is beautiful – sunny and mid 70’s to low 80’s. I hope they are right.
With the rain most of the turf races were moved to the main track with the resultant scratch of many horses. It was a day for extremely casual betting. I’m glad I reduced my bets because I hit nothing! I had a 20-1 shot run a great race. He led to a couple of steps before the finish line before getting caught. There was an inquiry because the third horse looked like he got cut off by the winner. Steward’s inquiry and jockey objection. But, in fact, it was my horse who committed the foul and he was moved from second to third. Had he won and then got disqualified, I would have been upset even more than just losing at the wire. That’s horse racing.
Click on the gallery below to bring up a gallery window with complete larger pictures (the gallery shows just thumbnails of the pictures)
Yesterday I flew east, drove west, and am now at Saratoga. First day of racing for me today, fifth day of meet. Foggy morning, but sun predicted for later. It was a nippy 56 degrees when I went over to the track at 7 AM to set up my office. It should be in the 70’s later. Rain coming tomorrow, but a beautiful weekend is forecast. Scary, because they are ALWAYS wrong. A few pictures from this morning.
Two years ago the City of Scottsdale debuted its new Western Spirit Museum of the West in a brand new purpose-built building in Old Town Scottsdale. Figuring it was about time we visited the place, we made it on today’s day trip. Owned by the city and run by a non-profit organization, the Museum self describes its vision as “celebrating the West and its importance by informing, educating, inspiring, and engaging museum guests. Western Spirit offers high-quality exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach addressing regional history, particularly as reflected by the arts and the dynamic cultural exchanges that have marked the transition of the Old West into the New West.”
The building itself is beautiful – very modern and eclectically designed. Inside you will find everything from movie posters from westerns over the ages to sculptures, paintings, prints, saddles, spurs, memorabilia, and collectibles. They have a beautiful outdoor sculpture garden and an auditorium where we watched a brief introductory film about the concept behind the museum. We were impressed enough on leaving to convert our admission costs into an annual membership. I’ll let pictures do the talking, using captions to add to the information.
Click on the Gallery to bring up a viewing window where you can scroll through larger versions of the pictures with captions.
Arriving
Near the Entrance
Sculpture by Dave McGary at the Entrance
From Behind – McGary Died in 2013 at Age 55
The McGary Statue Reflected in the Museum’s Window
Harlem on the Prairie? Really?
Dozens on Display of the Thousands the Museum Owns
OK, I Don’t Remember Pedro Armendáriz
On Left, the Oldest Poster in the Collection
Good Presentation on
Now That’s a Saddle!
In the Sculpture Garden with our Reflections in the Window
Elaine Explores the Sculpture Garden
Saddles Galore
The Old West
Rodeo Memorabilia
Chaps, Anyone?
Indian Warrior
Gall, Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse
Can We Do 2016 Over Again? Pleeeease?
Be in a western Scene
Me Too
A Wide Shot of the Museum
I Especially Liked this Work
A Highlight – Explained More Below
Sculptures
Actual Photos from Curtis’s 30 Year Chronicling of the American Indian
Here’s a repeat of one of the photos in the Gallery showing perhaps the highlight of Western Spirit’s collection:
A Highlight – Explained More Below
The book is a first edition of the chronicles of the expeditions of Lewis and Clark. The tomahawk is the actual one found next to the dead body of Captain Meriwether Lewis. As he traveled down the Natchez Trace on his way to Washington, he died of gunshot wounds and possibly a slit throat. His family always contended he was murdered, but his cohort Clark and his friend Thomas Jefferson accepted the more common explanation of a suicide. “The presentation style pipe tomahawk carried by Captain Lewis is deemed one of the most historically significant objects of American history. Lewis carried this tomahawk during his great exploration up the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and back from 1804-1806. The pipe tomahawk is no mere utilitarian tool designed for daily use. Rather, it was crafted to reflect the status of its owner and for use as a tool of diplomacy with Native Americans. Diplomatic relationships were often cemented by smoking tobacco, and as an Army officer schooled in encounters with Native Americans, Lewis would have been well aware of the war-peace symbolic dualism of the pipe tomahawk.”
At the beginning of the gallery, there are several shots of a sculpture by Dave McGary, and there are numerous more sculptures by him in the museum. Back when we lived in Boston, Elaine, who adores McGary’s work, bought a sculpture by him which holds pride of place in our great room here in Scottsdale. It is pictured below.
