Happy Fourth of July

To All of My American Friends - Happy Fourth of July!!

I know it's not fashionable, and it's certainly not PC these days to really like much of anything. Unless it's celebrities. It seems to be far more popular to point out the flaws or differences in everything. All I can say about that is if you look for the flaws, you'll find them.

Our country is far from perfect, she could use some work, but I love her still. I'm damned proud to be an American. And I'll be forever grateful to the men and women who came before me to make this country free. Our independence is a gift to us, that came with much sacrifice. We should celebrate!

Here we'll be celebrating with umbrellas because it's raining. I hope the sun is shining where you are. Enjoy the holiday!!

Giving Thanks

Here in the U.S., today is Thanksgiving.

There are many things I'm thankful for. So many in fact, this blog doesn't have space for all of them. I'll try to list some that are at the top of my list.

1. My man. He's the best.
2. My son. He's amazing.
3. My friends. They add layers of love and laughter to my life.
4. Being published. It's a long held dream come true.
5. My writer friends. They understand like no one else can.

Top five is good, eh? Don't want you snoozing before turkey. Speaking of turkeys, our friends from Denver are arriving later today to spend the holiday weekend with us. And I'm cooking. Yipes!!

At the end of the day, I'll be thankful if the food is edible and the house doesn't burn down.

Have a great day everyone!

Through The Fence – Brownstown Speedway

Located in Brownstown, Indiana at the county fairgrounds, Brownstown Speedway has been “Racing Since 1952”. Longer than I’ve been alive. Whew, it’s nice to know I’m not older than everything.

This track is a fairly flat, three-eighths mile dirt oval. Banking in the corners appeared to be about twelve degrees or so. No measurements here; it’s a best guest scenario. I admit to being surprised upon my arrival, during the first modified heat race, to find the track dry and quite slippery in turns one and two, thus prompting several spin outs that slowed down the show.


Being on top of things, after the heat races, they announced they would be reworking the track during intermission. Okay, I’ll admit to having a wtf? moment here. I’ve been to tracks where the reworking has taken two hours. It sucks. For a fan, it’s not fun. Kudos to the track workers. They did it in forty minutes and the track ended up gorgeous.

What fascinated me most here was that since the straight-aways were so wide and flat, drivers racing out of turn four would hang their right rear tire off the edge of the track which would propel them forward and back onto the track. Without loss of position. This made for some fantastic racing action. Lots of three and four wide battles.


Another high point was watching a few drivers who started back in the field take the absolute highest line at the edge of the track and just pedal their hearts out. Passing the competition like they were standing still!

All in all, it was a great night of racing. The track and grounds are well cared for, they do have a portion of covered grandstands (which I love in case of rain), and concessions offered a good variety of food and drink at very reasonable prices. If you’re ever in the area, I’d recommend this track for a fun family outing!