Drag Races

On my daily drive to work I drive between East Lake and West Lake. I've observed the skating "rink" shoveled out on West Lake with no one enjoying it when I go by around 8:30. This week the old car was parked on West Lake where it will sit until it falls through the ice. You can bet on when it will fall through the ice after which first responder divers will use it for practice before it is pulled out of the lake to dry out until next winter. Last Wednesday I noticed snow being removed over a long stretch on East Lake. The next day flags were being placed in the ice at regular intervals to form lanes. Friday one of my co-workers noticed a Zamboni out on the ice. At least six of us were in the therapy room discussing the question of the day, "What is going on?" Google didn't even have the answer. Another co-worker walked through the room giving the name of the person to call. The next thing we knew, one of our patients was on his phone. After a short conversation he reported, "snowmobile races."

Saturday I was scheduled to take Elizabeth, my niece, and Vicky, my sister-in-law from Dallas on an outing. Elizabeth wasn't feeling well so Vicky and I set out for the Lakes. The day was warm (40˚) and sunny so it was a great day to stand on the ice and watch the vintage snowmobiles drag race for 200 yards/meters down the ice. Vicky and I watched for almost 2 hours as all her senses were filled with northern culture: the sound of revving engines and burst down the ice (I was wishing I had brought some ear plugs), the smell of diesel being burned by old engines, the feel of the cold ice under our feet, the sight of children playing and being able to identify the winner from 120 yards or more away.... Vicky was actually quite good at picking the winner, even when it was close. The start made all the difference in the world as there was only a couple of come-from-behind victories. I never did figure out where the start signal came from or how they actually decided the ultimate winner in each category since the same snowmobiles raced against each other numerous times in what was announced to be the "final." We left a couple of hours after we had arrived feeling revived by the stark contrast from our individual daily routines even though we had little feeling left in our feet.