Thursday, April 28, 2005

Hope Lives

For the last few days, press releases have been appearing claiming that the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker may not really be extinct.

The Ivory-Bill was a huge bird, a gorgeous bird, a bird of such charisma that it was called the Lord God Bird because of the automatic exclamation of awe made by the people who saw it winging through the tangled forests of the South.

It disappeared in the wake of evilly irresponsible logging and development practices, and despite scattered maybe-sightings, was thought to be extinct.

Which means, really, dead. "Extinct" sounds scientific, almost clinical. But it means dead. Rotting hollow bones and drifts of faded feathers. Tattered specimens in drawers. Not one left alive. No hope.

Now sources, including Cornell University, say that at least one bird has been observed alive, deep in the Arkansas woods.

The Ivory-Bill caught my imagination as soon as I began to study birds. More than the Passenger Pigeon, the Bachman's Warbler. Woodpeckers are universally charismatic birds, birds with numen, and I daydreamed about seeing an Ivory-Bill. I was going to write a story about two researchers searching for them and about the nature of liminality, life and death.

I can't yet let myself entirely believe in the Ivory-Bill's resurrection. I want it too much. And, with the sightings citing only one bird seen, it's possible it has survived only to disappear again.

But I want to believe in it, to believe in life defying death, in the resurrection of the Lord God Bird in spring, like Osiris, like Baldr, like a promise of springs and forests yet to come.

O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Racehorse

I hadn't fallen in love with a horse yet this year until Saturday.

Really good performances start voices whispering. He could be good. He could be... more than good. He could win the Derby. He could...

But you have to ignore the voices. They are deceptive. They will make a fool of you. If you speak of them aloud, they might be a jinx.

Bellamy Road took the lead at the start of the Wood Memorial and never looked back. He put more and more distance on the field, black-bay coat gleaming, stride utterly even and smooth, ticking off the seconds. Into a headwind, equalling Riva Ridge's track record, shattering the stakes record, winning by seventeen lengths under a hand ride. And never fully extended. The outrider had to help the jockey pull up after the race.

The rest of the field was irrelevant. There was only Bellamy Road and the wind.

And the voices.

...He's moving like a tremendous machine.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Further Down the Derby Trail

We've gotten a little farther, but the picture doesn't seem much more clear to me.

I'm hoping for another round of preps to clarify. We'll see.

High Fly looks like one of the major competitors. His recent 1 1/8th mile win was considerably superior to his last; he was in better shape. But I still don't like him. I don't know if it's his grinding style, without high turn of foot at any point, or his short pushing stride (watch a recording of Real Quiet if you want to see the gliding way that Derby horses should move), or something indefinable, but I don't like him for a mile and a quarter.

I can't believe Noble Causeway will have the experience needed, but he ran pretty well. Besides, I work for Barnes & Noble.

Bandini continues to impress me with his physical appearance, but I'm waiting to see what he does next.

I don't think at this point that Rockport Harbor is going to make the Derby. If he does, he seems to have considerable talent but a front-running style would not serve him well, especially with High Limit in the mix.

The latter ran a good race in his last, although not flattered by Vicarage's bounce in the Florida Derby. But he seems to be a confirmed front-runner and I don't like that in a Derby horse, War Emblem notwithstanding.

Greater Good -- Could be the dark horse, but I need to see more.

Consolidator is unquestionably fast, appears to have a lot of quality, and I would consider him to be a top contender even though his most recent time was helped by track condition. I like the way he moves.

Flower Alley and Wild Desert - I loved the way these colts charged through the mud in the Lane's End. Whether the track condition moved them up, though, remains to be seen.

Sun King is gorgeous, but needs to run faster against better to be considered a top contender. Once again -- waiting for the next start.

Beyond that -- I don't even have a full field here -- Sweet Catomine is a filly, therefore a longshot. And Afleet Alex is going to be lucky to have any career at all after the way he's been mismanaged. The Rushaway top two finishers both ran good races but don't really look like Grade 1 quality; same with the WinStar.

Tentatively, I'd say High Fly and Consolidator are the early favorites and Wild Desert is my wacky longshot. We'll see.