However, it doesn't stop my mind from "wondering" or "wandering" (or maybe a combination of both). The kids have asked me about a bucket list, and I've pretty much not had one. Usually, when I want to do something, I take a good look at it, reverse engineer what it takes to do it, and then I make a plan to get her done.
Been that way pretty much my whole life, or at least my adult life.
Hospitalizations and complications from diabetes have given me occasion to rethink having a bucket list.
So, I've decided to put together a list. So far, it is only one item long and I'm sure more ideas will come to me as I pursue this line of thinking.
Last night C and I went to stock car races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is a short, paved track (having been dirt back in the day). It's three eighths of a mile with a dirt infield that is used for monster truck events. The mogul hills give the big trucks plenty of opportunity to bounce around and show their stuff. It is also a figure eight track. Think of the number 8 laying on its side and you have the layout.
The figure eight races are a pretty wild and crazy affair and there are a number of ways that the races can be run. The thing about a track like this is when the cars start to really get spread apart. Inevitably, slower cars are crossing the intersection of the eight when the faster cars roar through. It's an adult version of a scary chicken game. Who is going to flinch and give way to the other driver?
To make this even more interesting, the track we were at does something they call "train" races. The train is composed of three cars linked together. The lead car hosts the driver who controls the steering and the gas. The center car is empty and the caboose car has the driver who controls the braking system. It's surprising how fast those trains get going.
The track also offers a special event from time to time for novice, wannabe racers. For a fee, you can rent a smaller race car. They have time trials and they run a fifteen lap race around the track.
I think that is something I might want to put onto a bucket list. I've always wanted to ride in a race car, but an opportunity to drive one may trump just having a ride. The 4 car was the winner last night, but the 1 car was pretty darn fast (images CNS)
And speaking of fun ideas, toward the end of the season, they have a race where local pastors and church workers can race.
Some people wonder about the appeal of racing cars. Certainly, it is evolved from a young person thing (remember when you were first allowed to drive?). But, racing history goes deeper than that - to the very early days of the automobile when execs from various companies were trying to prove they had superior cars, or just that their cars could perform. A popular place to test cars were on proving grounds (frequently an oval) or on the hard packed beaches of Florida (Daytona anyone).
There is also something quite visceral to being at a race track. The odor of burning rubber and race car fuels, the earth-shattering roar of engines as they scream past,
But more than anything I believe people come to tracks to drivers test the limits of their own cars against those of others. They talk of being "off season" and working on their vehicles. In a very real sense these are the gear heads who want to know how to make their cars faster and better. They have a specialized knowledge, and a bravery I don't possess, and so I come to see them do what I haven't mustered up the courage to attempt.
Yet.
(Car photos from CNS, except the last one)