Thursday, December 30, 2010

START YOUR ENGINES

Awww, Christmas memories, nothing like them!  Forget the chestnuts roasting by the open fire, Jack Frost nipping and Yuletide carols, the Braner family went to the track!!

Here we are lining up in the speed demon go-karts located at a great place called Andy B's Recreation Center in Tulsa.  Cute name right?  And since we have an Andy and his last name also begins with B we decided to  check out this place. It was fabulous and no disappointment!

For $5.00 each driver over 50 inches tall  and older than 9 years could round the track several times, darting in and out of traffic, squealing around corners and avoiding near misses. Shorter drivers had to ride shotgun with a taller person.

Looks simple enough and lots of fun,  right?
I was confident that I could participate in this event since all I had to do was turn left, turn left, turn left.  No great challenge there!

Gravity helped me get into that very low drivers seat and Mollie (age 3) was delighted to be my passenger.  After  fastening all the safety belts and a few directions from the owner of the place we shot out of the starting gate immediately as the shot sounded.

Mollie started laughing and squealing with delight.  Evidently she has a need FOR and enjoys SPEED!   It took about 2 minutes for both of us to realize that I had no idea what I was doing.  The accelerator and the brake were easier enough to master, but those sharp curves and fellow racers sent us bumping into walls and other cars immediately.  We bounced and laughed through lap #1.

Everyone was passing us at super sonic speeds as we putzed and crashed around the track.  We were a ridiculous sight.  At lap #2 she yelled out in her loudest three year old voice, "WE ARE TERRIBLE!"  Yes, we were!  But, no one had as much fun as we had that day.
We bumped around 8-10 more rounds pretending we were racing at the Indy 500! She loved every minute of it and I loved watching her laugh. There is nothing more precious on this earth than watching pure joy bubbling from a child.

As we slowed down and entered into the victory lap that signaled the end of our race we finally got control of ourselves and hugged tightly with the new knowledge of a shared experience.  Perhaps she was thrilled that she was still alive.  I PRAY she remembers that day well into adulthood!

Getting out of that low seat was another visual image but Honeybuns came to the rescue!  We gave that owner/operator a new Christmas vision as well as I struggled to my feet.

It truly is healthy to make "new" traditions!  Christmas Joy can be found in the most unsuspecting ways and sometimes in the oddest places.

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