Boy Stuff 101

As any mother of boys will tell you, one needs to develop a taste for fart jokes, dirt, high thrill pursuits and anything with wheels that goes fast (or has the potential to) if one is to remain in that mysterious inner circle related to boy hood.  So it is that I am beginning to know the make of cars according to their badge, have a couple of fart jokes in my joke repertoire, and am not averse to the boys playing outside until they are covered in a thin film of grime (I am sure I heard somewhere that it helps them develop their immune system!).

Whilst in Williams Lake I undertook further study into the mysteries of boyhood by attending my first speedway event.  The smell of dust, grease and oil and the sound of suped up speedway cars accosted my senses as we drove into the speedway venue and found a parking space close to the track.  As we did not come prepared to view the event with appropriate seating we improvised and took the back seats from the back of the van and used them.  I'm not sure if this should be classified as 'redneck' or not.  All I know is is that it was an awesome way to avoid bottom cramps from sitting on ones derrière for too long. I think it would be fantastic seating for a drive in movie - almost like the gold class cinemas we have in Australia (perhaps it could be named 'redneck class').

Thankfully for me my study into speedway events needed little in the way of explanation or rules.  Basically it's go flat out around the track and try to get past the finish line first.  I did observe however that it requires quite a bit of skill on the drivers part to negotiate his/her way past the other competitors and to avoid collisions and other accidents.  Unfortunately one driver had a nasty accident during his race and wiped out on a sidewall - his car exploding on impact.  Incredibly he escaped relatively unharmed save for a few burns.  There were a number of intensely frantic minutes where no-one in the crowd knew if the driver was ok or not.  It was during this time that I came to the steadfast conclusion that my boys WILL NOT be partaking in this kind of thing for as long as I have anything to do with it (which unfortunately for me if I am to be a realist about these things may not be for all that long).

I have also posted a gratuitous picture of a rainbow which appeared over Williams Lake on our way home after the speedway.  1.  because its very girly and very pretty and 2.  because maybe its a sign of hope that I'll be able to "get" the boy thing one of these days (as much as any mother can).