The Nature of Things

The Olympics have claimed people's attention around the world over the last couple of weeks. Not mine. I'm really not a big Olympics buff, although, of course, I am tangentially aware of the Games and I honor the efforts of the winners, as well as the also-rans. They are amazing people, representing some of the best that the human race can achieve in the realm of physical feats. Musing on the Olympics started me thinking about athletics and athletes in general and about the greatest athlete and the greatest athletic feat I ever saw. Since I am a big baseball fan - really my only sport - you might think it was a particular game, maybe a particular pitcher, but no. It was this. Secretariat had that race wrapped up early on. He could have let up a little, relaxed a bit, saved a little effort, but he didn't. He ran as if all the furies of hell were chasing him. He ran because that's what he was born to do and this was the race he was born to run. It was a magnificent perfor...

All the hoopla about the new Disney movie, Secretariat , has brought back some wonderful memories of an amazing animal. I'm not really a horseracing fan like my husband who eats this stuff up every day of his life, but I was a Secretariat fan like millions of other people in this country and, indeed, around the world. In 1973, when he won the Triple Crown of racing, there wasn't much to cheer about. We were still mired in the Vietnam War and every day brought news of the sad total of casualties from half a world away. Richard Nixon was president and was deep into his paranoia, dragging the country along with him. The Watergate scandal was on the horizon. We desperately needed some good news. And along came Secretariat. He was a gorgeous horse, right out of central casting. He was a big flashy red with three white stockings and a white blaze on his face, and he had personality. He seemed to love the limelight. Maybe that is anthropomorphizing. Who knows what a horse r...