Derby Day

The Pinewood Derby is a time-honored Cub Scout tradition. Every January, rectangular blocks of American pine collide with pocket knives, Dremel tools, band saws, and electric sanders in a whirlwind of sawdust, plastic wheels, and water soluble paints. Simple, but creative masterpieces of boy-ingenuity (and varying levels of dad-consultancy) take the form of gravity-driven race cars, and compete in a venue of sportsmanship, laughter, and semi-chaos. And so the tradition continues...

Jono's den of Tiger Scouts poses with Tiger fierceness after their race. Jono got third place among them, enough to qualify for the finals. I was glad he won a few races - why am I so relieved when he is not disappointed?

Before the race we posed together in the front yard. While only the Cub Scout's (blue shirts) race, some Boy Scouts (olive shirts) volunteer to help rein in the wild horses, so to speak. David helped with the computer which kept track of which cars had raced, won, and lost. As the adult leader of Jono's Tiger den, I was also "in uniform".

For some of you, this may be the first time you have seen me with hair in several years. I got tired of shaving it. It came in considerably grayer than it used to be. Sheesh.

This is David doing computery things and enjoying a position of responsibility. He did well.