Welcome 2013

I always feel optimistic on the first day of the brand new year, speculating on the unknown events that will shape 2013 for me.  I’m not actually anticipating anything in particular at the moment other than the resumption of Group One racing in a month’s time, and particularly the return of Black Caviar to the turf, in February perhaps.

Between Christmas and New Year I read the Black Caviar book, which a friend kindly gave me for Christmas. I suppose it’s not the sort of book everyone would read and enjoy, but as I have a passion for horse racing, I  found it a cosy and comfortable read. It’s actually well written and captures the atmosphere and excitement that surrounded each of Black Caviar’s 22 winning runs on the racing circuit. Having been there in person for four of them, my memories of each occasion concur with the author’s (Gerard  Whateley) recollections.  As the subtitle of the book says, Black Caviar is the horse of a lifetime, and I feel privileged to have been part of it as a spectator and commentator (in my blog) – witnessing history as it happens so to speak.

On the Cat Politics side of things, there has been no argy bargy between the cats next door and Willy.  Both Monty and Willy appear to eschew aggression and have not come to blows on any occasion, for which we are thankful.

The above photo was taken just the other day. Willy is sitting on the new Persian rug which I purchased a few months ago.  It’s not a real Persian Rug, but a machine made copy of an ancient Pazyryk Rug which was found in Mongolia in 1949. It had been buried in ice for over 2500 years and is the oldest rug in existence, dating back to the 5th century BC.  The story behind the rug captivated me, and as I really liked the rug’s design, it wasn’t hard to choose this rug over all the others on show at the Rug shop.

Here’s a photo of part of the rug in all its glory – horses, deer and griffins.

It is now two years since I quit the workforce, and I must admit retirement isn’t bad and far preferable to getting up every morning for the daily commute to the office. I occasionally run into people I knew at work and they say the Department’s gone to the dogs in the last few years, what with the Baillieu  Government cutting services and such.

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! Let’s hope for  love, peace, happiness and Woodstock nation for the world, though that doesn’t look likely.