THE RACE IS ON

You’d think from all the screaming and shouting for horses coming from the Tuscany Senior Community clubhouse that the Kentucky Derby was on. Not so: it was the monthly Horse Races and Steak Fry, an event at which the residents of this senior community and their friends have invented to eat, drink, bet on the ponies and socialize. The “ponies” are six wooden horses with special names. Those in attendance pay for chances on specific horses. The “action” actually comes with the throw of a pair of dice. One die indicates the horse number, the other how many spaces that horse will be moved along the clubhouse floor. There’s not a lot of money to be won but you’d never know it from the shouting. After an hour of socializing (i.e. imbibing), and an exciting race each participant has a chance to cook their own steak. I went only once. Didn’t get any winning horses and got into a terrible hassle with cooking steaks. You had to watch your steak on the grill, standing watch amidst a cloud of smoke, or you wouldn’t get your steak cooked the way you liked it. Like the old adage says: “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” The wise folks who put on this exciting event have now helped alleviate the crowd at the the grills by having separate ones for “rare”, “medium” and “well done”. I don’t know how this is working out because I’m saving all my gambling money for bingo. But I'm hearing through the grapevine that some people are complaining because the steaks are too small will others claim they are two big. Go figure.