Knowing The Figures

Only a few days later   than the last tree - shot , I took this dramatic photo of this  stark looking tree set in a ploughed field near Little Rissington  under a deep blue sky.

I have adjusted the contrast accordingly. Incidentally ( you probably know this already) , if you click on any of my photos , you will be rewarded with an enlarged version , which may help with some of the details.

Last week was quite a week for the numbers. After reporting on those unusual dates in March ( see 'Beasts on the Hill 25/3 )  , I found myself reading  " N. "  a short story by Stephen King , from his collection  ' Just After Sunset '. The story concerns a man , who , after trying to count standing stones in a field  , fails to agree on the actual number , was it  seven or eight ? .

This leads him into becoming an OCD  ( obsessive -compulsive disorder ) sufferer.

 OCD being  "a mental disorder , characterized by intrusive thoughts or obsessions , resulting in compulsive behaviors and mental acts that the person feels driven to perform , according to rules that must be applied rigidly , aimed at reducing anxiety stemming from the intrusive thoughts " (wikipedia).

 In this man's case , he needs to check , touch and place the objects concerned  leading him to have a low regard  for odd numbers ; so much so that he feels the need to surround himself in life with even results , number of pencils in box , books on a shelf and so on .

This story made me think about the 'ritual' behaviour in my life and the need to isolate and change such habits.

So in this , slighty disturbed state , I wound up at the cinema last Thursday to watch the film "knowing " , with Nicolas Cage  , a man , who found , guess what , a  list of numbers , from a time capsule , which predicted , after the code was solved , past and future global events.

It proved an interesting watch  , with a satifactory conclusion.

The Grand National , ended the week with some very interesting numbers indeed. The winning horse " Mon Mome "  , trained by Miss  Venetia Williams , from stables near Kings Caple , lying between Ross- on- Wye and Hereford , won at the odds of 100/1 ; odds last seen in this race in 1967 when Foinavon , slipped through the carnage at the 23rd  , to pick up this prize.

When I checked the results from Aintree , I was amazed to read that the last two remaining races following the National were won by the following horses , Culcabock (5:00 p.m.) and Sitting Tennant (5:30 p.m.) both at the odds of 66/1 !.

So we have a sequence of winners 100/1 , 66/1 , 66/1  , which  I have never seen before in the many years I have watched racing.  Someone will work out the rewards a £5 win treble will yield  ;  an amount of which will keep a horse in feed for a very long time indeed.

Further reading of these results showed that , again remarkably , all three winners were trained by Women trainers.

1- National - Miss V.Williams

2 - 5:00    -  Lucinda V.Russell

3- 5:30     -  Mrs. K. Walton.

So while naturally Mon Mome will capture the headlines , that subsequent winning number  sequence is  unlikely to be beaten ever.

So what happened to my National selections ?

Cloudy Lane  - unseated rider at fence 15/30

Black Apalachi - in LEAD  when unseating rider at fence 22/30

Knowhere -   still needs to be somewhere , pulled up 25/30

My Will  -   showed a strong will , overcoming poor jumps to finish 3rd.

Oh well there's always the Scottish Grand National to come.

Ciao4now

  Ck.

P.S.  The first race winner on Grand National Day (1:45) was also trained by a lady , Miss Emma Lavelle , could this be something to do with the date ( 4/4 ) ?