What can 'Brown' do for you?

This was going to be the year I quit for good.

Horse racing and I were done. In the past few years, I‘d been guilty of making far too much of it. As seems to be my wont for all hollow things in life, I gave it too much of my heart, only to realize it was for naught. I tried to find something poetic, something symbolic, something of deeper meaning in all of it. I’d waxed eloquently on what I finally realized amounted to nothing at all. The only metaphor for life was the running in circles (chasing our tails, coming back as we are...).

I thought my blinders were gone once and for all. We place our wagers and they play themselves out. There is no deeper meaning. It is what it is...

And then I saw the Florida Derby, where a horse named Big Brown brought it all back.

A thousand springtimes ago, when I lived someone else's life, there came a horse called Smarty Jones. He wasn’t much to behold at first glance and as a result, was overlooked by most. Those who embraced him, however, were taken for a magical ride. The spring of Smarty was full of memories for me, although all that’s wrapped up in time and circumstance has done its best to wash their colors away.

'Brown' has already done enough for me. Anything else is just peppermint candies on top of the oats.



Chills. Even now.