A Day at the Races
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Before Peter had come, Friday evening, Collette settled herself in the giant’s rocking chair near the stove and listened to Carrie-Bri read of unexplained phenomenon. And they discussed the case of a possible meteor incident in Siberia in 1908 and on to deeper thought of world destruction. Then there was Noah’s Ark (an expedition they both would have liked to set out on) near Turkey, and of giants allegedly descended from star gods in Spain, Scandinavia, and Argentina, some seen by Magellan nearly twelve feet long.
And then there was Francis’ pine wood derby the next morning. They were all there and with Grandma Combs.
Even Joe made it after only a few hours of sleep following the late night skiing. Apparently Curly had even taken a pole to the lip and spat out blood a bit until he calmed down. Another boy had dislocated his shoulder in a snowboarding incident, and a third had apparently knocked himself out. But Joe was still there, enthusiastic to aid in the help of any ailing pine woods.
Long before the races had even begun, Linnea had figured out the process of purchasing tickets for the concession stand, and soon there was a steady stream of good “day at the races” fare. Of course, they needed no reminding from the host of the races saying from time to time:
“And don’t forget – there’s ice cold drinks at the concession stand.”
The pine woods were apparently quite cleverly done – one looking quite like a donut, another like a model-T, and one more like a rolled up newspaper. When the donut car would later go on to win its heat, Carrie-Bri commented:
“Now that’s what I call fast food,” and groaned at herself.
The whole gymnasium was rigged with electronics for precise timing of the little pine woods, including a large screen for results, and banners, flags, and sponsors’ signs (including the Army).
OLeif photographed the event while Rose and Chester’s sister, Starr, followed each other about for better views of the track – “Rose and her minion” – Carrie would always laugh.
In the end, it seemed that both Francis and Chester had done well, although the scores would not be tallied for a time. And he seemed satisfied with the day over all, especially with the free gift of a pop-up clock and a slap-on soda holder, preferably used for tossing up in the air to catch wrapped around the wrist.
As they prepared to leave that evening to go next to see the Silverspoons, Rose was in concert at the bar chair in the kitchen, while Mom and Dad were in conversation with Collette and OLeif.
“God of concrete, God of steel,” Rose was belting out her favorite hymn.
Finally, Dad had enough, and with his smile lines, sent Rose to her room, to diminish the racket.