e-PONY-mous worship?
Melbourne Cup Day – the day on which a country stops for a horse race. I have always found that to be both typical and idiosyncratic of this country of mine.
In one city it is a public holiday, while for the rest of the country people tend to congregate around television sets or radios and arrange “office sweeps” that never profit anyone as any winnings are generally donated to buying a round of drinks. Even if one is not employed, there is a tendency to share the day with others - even if it is only by being in a shopping centre to experience the sensation of everyone stopping to listen to the race on the radio. (I sometimes think if a company tried to prevent their employees listening to the race-call there would be a great deal of work not done!). Australians have been nuts about this horse races since well before the beginning of the last century. To the extent that even war will not prevent Aussies from celebrating one thing going faster than another similar thing!

Today’s race has been fortunate for me in two ways. The horse I drew in the office sweep came second, and I've just been offered another contract for a months work. Race day being the sort of day it is, prone to all sorts of superstitions and silliness, when I saw a pin on the road as I went for a quick stroll at lunch time, I picked it up. I don't know if it helped, but it made me feel favored by Fortune. So tonight I will play something suitable from “Carmina Burana” while cooking the chicken for tea so that the family can share in the traditional Melbourne Cup Day fare of chicken salad with “champagne”. (Well, okay, it is actually more likely to be a decent cup of tea, mostly because I forgot to buy the champers last weekend *G*.)

(The Celtic Goddess, Epona, was a horse goddess ... I've often wondered if there was some connection between Melbourne Cup Day and the number of Celtic types involved in the horse racing industry here ... just a stray thought *twinkle*. And an Irish horse did win the Cup today!)