Foxfield

The great day of Foxfield finally arrived at last. (Those who read TSD will know something about it already. For those who don't, Foxfield consists of an enormous field on the side of a hill, with a steeplechase track round the outside and about five thousand people in sundresses, chinos and various stages of drunkness on the inside.)

I've been looking forward to Foxfield for ages, and I've been watching the weather forecast like a hawk for two weeks, with a view to giving the dress I had lined up for my father's wedding a trial run. But the forecast was looking increasingly dodgy all week, and this morning when I got up at 7.30 (on a Saturday, oh woe, because Vince's memorial service was happening at school at 9am) the weather was unbelievably - almost Britishly - bad: had been raining all night and was misty, damp, grey and cold. Somehow a red, pink and white halter neck just didn't seem to fit the bill.

I sadly switched to black and white from the back of the closet, nothing fancy, and it seemed to be appropriate for Vince's service as well as the tres miserable weather. Actually, as I discovered later, the mud and the cold didn't seem to deter everyone within a 100 mile radius between the age of 16 and 32 from showing up at Foxfield dressed straight out of this spring's J Crew catalogue, in pastel cotton strapless sundresses and mud. It was quite an awe inspiring sight: in fact I was not the only one to note that it looked like a cross between Henley and Glastonbury.

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Both of the last two years I got tickets for Foxfield and never went. The first year I seem to remember the weather looked too dodgy; the second year my cab never arrived (Airport Cab Company, if you are reading this - I am still waiting....)

But really those are just poor excuses for the fact that FF, like TNDC, was the sort of thing that induced severe social anxiety syndrome in me. I absolutely would dread turning up to something like that for fear there would be no one there I recognised and I would have noone to talk to.

This year, despite the crap weather, and the mud, and the fact I was a bit emotionally wrung out (having gotten a little tearful speaking at Vince's memorial service earlier on), I ended up having such a good time that I had to be literally dragged away from my spot in a '04 v '05 flipcup tournament to go home.

One reason was probably my unplanned but excellent strategy of knocking back a couple of Mint Juleps early in proceedings. Mint Juleps are the traditional drink of the Kentucky Derby. The horseraces at Foxfield are no Kentucky Derby, but still. They consist of bourbon, sugar solution, mint leaves and ice. Yum. Guaranteed to cheer the spirits within 25 minutes.

Then, at risk of rapidly descending into the sort of Jennifer's Diary column that is only of interest to the people mentioned, of course there were a whole bunch of other people that I haven't seen for ages and probably, visa issues being as they are, will never see again. Lots of Class of 04: most of the "local" gang, plus healthy contingents from Boston, NYC, Baltimore, and DC and some brave souls who'd even flown in on the red eye from San Francisco: Chris Cooper, Chris duP_ (of whom see more on TSD...), Rebecca Gordon, Todd Whiting, Sarah Spiewak, Dave Lee, Riley O' Brien, DaveRouse, Jim Wininger, AsianStudiesMeredith, Chris Borunda (wearing a very fetching pair of J Crew green critter pants), Derek Dickey, Katherine Neebe, Abby Rohman, Leslie Curry, Dennis Ortiz, Jose Salinas, Jorge Palet (aka el orso a Paddington hombre) and probably even more people I've forgotten or more likely never knew the names of anyway...

Plus, of course there were those who skipped FF but went to Vince's: Chantal Chellar, Marcus Kritzler, EnglishNeil, Emily Chen, Uday Gupta and Bob Bell; and of course absolutely pots of FYs and SYs: Mac, Marcie, MarriedSpencer, "Spanish"Bastien, Walt Leddy, NickTheBrit, CBL, Tom Hunter and so on.

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It was nice, but kind of sad to see everyone. I really should have been feeling this way this time last year, when everyone else was partying like it was 1999. But my wildly social/sentimental spell seems to be happening now, a year after graduation. Not even TNDC can faze me. A roomful of FYs I don't know? Bring 'em on.

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Gossip postscript:

1) who did I see but rowingMelissa? (the fourth member of my ladies four from last year, the other two being ArmyLisa and CanadianHockeyAnna) And, who was she with but Tom Hunter? That guy has such persistence, I am delighted for him. He was sharking her 18 months ago and she would hardly give him the time of day. Now they are dating with a capital D.

2) DaveBertelli and EnglishHelen have bought a house in Richmond, their first home they've owned, all v exciting.

3) And kind of unrelated, as he wasn't actually THERE, Matt Scharf and Rebecca just had a baby girl called Olivia.