Another night, and some more things I’m contemplating during another late-night swim. The moon pales above a hazy sky, and the rustling palm branches are joined tonight by tinkling wind chimes, which add a peaceful and joyful serenity to the moment:

* Congratulations to Street Sense, winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby. It was a well-run race, and jockey Calvin Borel deserves a lot of credit for crafting a winning strategy for his horse. Rob called it – too bad he wasn’t in our little $5 pool! Our winner was fellow Goodboy Steve “Killer” Kowalski‘s mom, who picked highest with Curlin (3rd), followed by Killer with Any Given Saturday (7th), yours truly with Dominican (11th), my mom with Great Hunter (13th), my wife Tracey with Storm in May (the prettiest horse in the field, BTW, at 16th), and my dad’s Scat Daddy (18th). Good thing we don’t try and make our living off the ponies. Sure was fun watching, though.

* You’re on Death Row and about to be executed, and you’re given your choice of one last meal before your ticket is punched for eternity. What would you choose? Me, If I absolutely had to choose at the point of death my favorite food, it would be Italian – antipasto, veal parmigiana (no cheese, thank you – bad for the arteries), and a nice bottle of chianti, with Mexican (beef enchiladas) a close second. What do you think?

* Watched Sean Hannity’s interview with potential Republican candidate for President, Fred Thompson (former senator from Tennessee and current cast member of NBC’s “Law and Order”), the other night and came away very impressed. Considering that none of the current slate of candidates (with, perhaps, the exception of Rudy) are about as exciting as a bag of doorknobs, I might just become a Fred man pretty soon.

* If you’re looking for a good Episcopal church in Phoenix’s East Valley to attend, I would highly recommend the Church of the Epiphany, in Tempe. The Saturday Eucharist is quiet and contemplative, in a small modern chapel that lends itself to casual and uncomplicated worship, and the sermons by the Rev. Ron Poston seem to be both well thought out and interesting. Don’t know what the future holds, but for now, anyways, I like it a lot and commend it highly.

* The thought that lingers more than two weeks after losing our rabbit Marble is that a phase of our lives is over. Sure, we’ve still got one of his offspring and two others, but just thinking about wanting another pet (or pets) to give run of the house to – say, a couple of cats (my preference) – gives pause indeed, something we never would have (or did) think about when we got Marble. I was in my mid-40s (and Tracey her late 30s) then, now I’m 51. Were we to get a couple of kitty cats (with a life span of around 15 years if all goes well), I’d be in my mid-to-late-60s towards the end of their lives. Not that it would factor in such a decision, but wow, where did the years go?

* Found out this week that business will be taking me to Vadodara, India in late July. I’ve never traveled overseas for any reason, and between the paperwork and the shots, it’s amazing all the stuff you have to go through to prepare for such a trip. Oh well, at least it’ll be an interesting blogging experience!