My kind of Christmas

For more than one reason, Zenyatta has eluded me at the track. Whether it's because I was never in California when she raced, or from a late scratch when she was supposed to run at Churchill Downs, or merely because I was caught off-guard, I've never really been able to photograph the undefeated living legend.

But when I heard Zenyatta would be paraded one final time, on opening day at Santa Anita on December 26, my mind started spinning on how I could get there to make this dream come true. My husband and I already planned to go on vacation during winter break, but we didn't usually make it out to California until around New Year's, since we always drive. So as Zenyatta was appearing the day after Christmas, I gave up the dream quickly, as I reside in Illinois, and would have to fly to California on Christmas day to be able to see her.

Well, it helps having a husband as spontaneous as me. It seems the seed I planted in his head had quickly grown into a beanstalk of an idea while I wasn't looking. Before I knew it, we had two plane tickets to California on Christmas day, and I was in tears at the prospects of being able to see Zenyatta one last time. To make a long story short, I was able to get credentials for Santa Anita on opening weekend and found out that it wasn't just Big Z I was going to finally be able to see, but also the great Lava Man's return to racing on that Sunday.

Nobody could've dreamt up a better Christmas present for me. So here I stand, ready to take my first-ever plane flight, and it's for a race horse. How fitting for me, and how blessed. I will write more after the experience, so for now, Happy Christmas, and may the Horse be with you!