It happens early in the morning, every first Saturday in May. My thoughts jostle back to pulling a dolly loaded with chairs, tray table, and paints through the tunnel that leads out to the Infield of Churchill Downs.
The landmark Racetrack being the setting for the annual Kentucky Derby, it was also my makeshift fundraising location that added funds to the coffers our non-profit Gallery needed to survive.
I was not the horse race betting expert as my father had been, but I had learned to wield a brush and paint horse heads on the faces of fans who felt their festive declarations brought luck to their racing form selections when they stood at betting windows.
So for several years through that tunnel, I walked with sketch artist, Don Stewart to set up our plein air financial enterprise. And for several years I painted the same faces as in previous years. It was entertaining to hear how the horses painted on their faces had helped them bring their two-year-olds past the finish line.
No matter where I am on that first Saturday in May, I close my eyes and replay my Kentucky Derby mind movie of fans and horses and brushes. I do not have to hear the Call To The Post because that mind movie has serenaded me with the strains of “The Sun Shines Bright….” and I hear hoofbeats from the past.