Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Having grown up in north-central Florida and Virginia, and now living in a community with a large number of Hispanics, I was aware that Cinco de Mayo was a day used to celebrate Mexican heritage, but I had no idea why... Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin. The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had known no defeat for almost 50 years. While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

It is grey and cloudy again this morning, but expected to clear. I was awakened at 5 this morning by 3 squirrels shaking my patio door, wanting their breakfast. They had to wait until 7; I went on my morning walk, fed the kits and cleaned their litter boxes before I placed peanuts on the living room floor and opened the patio door. I had 5 squirrels sitting and eating ravenously less than 5 feet from my desk chair, while my cats sat on either side of the circle and made sure the squirrels behaved. - It was a very funny sight! Yesterday when I appeared at Rosie and Remy's house to take them for a walk, they acted as if they hadn't been out for over a year; they danced and pranced and paraded for 95% of our walk... They are adorable! And I took an extra squeaky bone and another mint-flavored tennis ball over to Suki and Boo's, so they would be available when I drop by with the Irish kids. Suki has decided she likes the bone, and Boo did not want to relinquish the ball for any reason.

Mine That Bird is shipping to Pimlico with the intent of running in the Preakness. Calvin Borel is set to ride the Derby winner again, and folks seem to mainly be interested in the Preakness to see if Mine That Bird's win in the Derby was a once-in-a-lifetime fluke, or if the colt is an "actual race horse." Nick Zito, who trained Mine That Bird's sire, Birdstone, thinks that the colt is the real thing - after all, his sire defeated Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont Stakes and ruined that colt's chances for a Triple Crown.