Mid LIfe Crisis?!

My brother, the middle child of us five, has written me to ask if my new Saturn Astra, which I will be driving in a track day at Lime Rock, Connecticut in August, is some sort of mid-life crisis sports car.

A mid-life crisis indeed. How kind of him to mention "mid-life" as I will turn 63 next week. So I have another 63 years to go! Assuming I survive the track day.

My brother also taunts me when he writes I'll be afraid to go over 10 miles an hour on the track. Now he may be assuming that my terror that late winter day in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina, when he drove us in his SUV on snowy mountain trails with sheer drops off the side, was a sign of timid driving. But no...

I have to watch myself when I get in the car - even when I was driving a station wagon - if I had just been watching a Formula 1 race on the television, because some inner racer wants to be just like those drivers.

Newlin has put the Performance Drivers' Association slide show on my computer so I can get ready for the big day. It tells me that anxiety is normal, to stay hydrated, to get off the track if (when?) my mind goes blank ( ! ), teaches me all the language my instructor will use, and provides diagrams of the proper and safest way to drive into and out of turns. I'm also practicing not gripping the steering wheel in my usual death grip. So much to learn. But for me this is like those women who go on Outward Bound type wilderness survival experiences - I will not be the same woman after August 13th.

And you can be sure that afterwards I will be able to link that track day with my spiritual development - wait for it!

Apologies

I have been very remiss about posting, and for that I am sorry. Apologies to those who come to visit.

I have a friend who has dared to name the tyrrany that is the world wide web. One day a couple of weeks ago, he turned off his computer, and posted an automatic reply to his email, saying that he was taking a day off from his email so don't look for a reply - he just gets too much email. Last week he noted that as his email increased, personal contact decreased. His phone hardly ever rings anymore. All contact is through the internet.

I am very pleased to have my very own blog. There are also some blogs which I read regularly. In fact, I read them several times a day, and I get quite miffed when there isn't something new there everytime I check! This is part of the tyrrany about which my friend speaks. It becomes, for me, who vowed to myself that a post once a week would be enough, a source of guilt when my real life leaves me without the drive to post even weekly.

Hence, this post about not having posted! (chortle)

But seriously, if you enjoy reading here, that's wonderful. I am glad for it. I'm working on a major essay on art and spiritual development, which is taking some time, of which I have little right now. I hope you'll keep coming back to see if I've finally posted it, and when I do, I hope you'll let me hear from you.

Won't Mad Priest be jealous of this

I've just been advised there is a reservation for me, on August thirteenth, for a day on the track at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, in the novice class, with SCDA. That's Sports Car Drivers' Association LLC.

WOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Oh God, I'm scared! I want to learn to drive fast around the track, but there will be other drivers out there with me. Who will pray for them? I'll be on the track four times, for a total track time of about an hour and a half. I still can't believe it.

And all because Newlin traded the guy who runs the association one of my photos of the track for his new website for my track day.

Newlin says, we can practice between now and then. What does that mean? (Little does he know that I did just that today during the three and a half hours of drive time I had between home and Lakeside Connecticut and back!

Watch out, everyone, here I come!

The Unremembered

And who will honor those
who, for the love of God,
refused to carry arms
against their enemies,
against their fellow men;
who bore the badge of shame,
of "coward" as their name
unjustly worn?

And even worse than these,
foul traitors, you will say,
the young men of my age
who, burning draft cards, fled
to Canada to live
in protest of a war
they held unjust?

Did these not also fight
for freedom's sake?
Was not their sacrifice
of land and home,
the shame and calumny heaped on their heads
a warrior's price?

Or must they always be ashamed,
as having run away when battle came,
and only those who fought and died
obtain a hero's prize,
laid in the grave?

These, too stood up for peace,
in their own way.
I honor them this day,
though none else will.

Apology, and Lewis Hamilton wins!

I apologize - I can't seem to get the link to the map of the street course for the Monaco Grand Prix to work - maybe it's because it's from Wikepedia.

Anyway, Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix de Monaco! I'm a happy camper.

And just because I don't give up, let's try that link one more time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Circuit_Monaco.png:

Hamilton in the lead - off to church!

Updated link

Another view of the street course at Monaco for the Grand Prix de Monaco, here showing the names of the turns. Some of my favorites: rascasse, tabac (the tabaconist, named for the tobacco shop that used to be there), the swimming pool (aka the harbor! with the statue of the diver - a live shot frequently during the race which is so beautiful it's hard to believe).

Very frustrating - have to leave in 3 minutes for church, with 30+ laps to go and Lewis Hamilton in the lead with a 21 second jump on the second place driver, Felipe Massa, who started the race on the pole (that's first position - Lewis was in third at the start).

So, off to church. More later.

Grand Prix de Monaco

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the running of the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco. This is, without a doubt, the most romantic of the grand prix series for me. Monaco, the last of the road races on the actual streets of the city, although this year a new one will be added, a nighttime race in Singapore. But Monaco is the jewel in the crown of Formula 1 racing as far as I'm concerned.

Here's the track: http://www.thegrandprixclub.com/MC%20map.GIF

Today is qualifying. Tomorrow the race, on an unforgiving course - tight, no real room to pass, qualifying in the top two positions helps keep the driver out of trouble. Monaco is notorious for crashes at the first turn, Ste. Devote, as the cars clump up on the start. It's brilliant to watch, even on television. The camera placement in the tunnel gives you the feeling of being shot out of a rubber band.

Of course, I'll not make it to the end of the race, which begins at 8 a.m. east coast U.S.A. time (7:30 if you want to watch the cars being readied and talk with some of the drivers and celebs). I'll have to leave at 9:15 at the latest to get to church. But there's always the rerun in the afternoon!

As usual, I'm hoping Lewis Hamilton gets the pole, but I'll settle for the number two position, so long as he's on the front row. UPDATE: Hamilton is in third position. Still, not too bad, if he can stay out of trouble, ahead of the pack at Ste. Devote. Of course, there's an 80% chance of rain in Monaco for the race tomorrow. I can feel my anxiety building already.

AND THEN: there's a Grand Am series race at Lime Rock on Monday at 2 p.m. Another beautiful road race course, on a closed track in the countryside of northwest Connecticut. Only an hour or so ride from my home, but I'll watch on tellie.

What a weekend!

Now, off to compose my sermon for tomorrow. This being a church blog, I really should (useless word, that - "should") I really should make some mention of churchy things, and mention of the need to compose a sermon for tomorrow is it.

Then some gardening in the afternoon. Planted a small hosta patch in a corner of the front yard yesterday - it's lovely, if I do say so myself. (Must get some photos onto this blog.) Today I'm seeding a grubby patch against a fence on the street side with "wildflower" seed. So that's it for today.

If you want to come to church tomorrow, you can't go wrong with Grace Episcopal Church in Norwalk. 10:00 a.m. God loves you. Bye for now.