Bron and I have not yet gotten together, but it appears we may be able to soon.  It will be fun to catch up, but even better, to see where we each have gone.  I honestly never thought I would catch up with Bron again, so I have to say, fb has been a good thing in this regard.

Now, talk about addictions, and the jury is still out…

The banquet was emotionally very difficult, yet cathartic, as our Packmasters’ youngest son had unexpectedly passed away earlier this year, between the two Derby events. Thomas’ car was symbolically driven by one of his older brothers, and an annual award related to the Derby was created this year in honor of Thomas; his car will become a permanent part of the award.

Scouting has already brought so many lessons to our lives in just this first year.

So, we procrastinate just the right amount, and then the weekend before the Saturday morning race, we begin work. Tyler had a design picked out (the Lamborghini Gallardo), and a color (Yellow). I think this is great initiative on his part, but to be sure, suggest that maybe Lightning McQueen would also be a good choice - timely yet unlikely to be duplicated in his Tiger Cub division - but Tyler confidently sticks to his guns. On Saturday, after a trip to THD( were it not for a couple of great sales associates, we would be Lowe’s shoppers), we make the first cut, and Tyler tries out the hack saw. He does pretty well with it, but decides after awhile that sanding is his specialty. So, I make the other big cuts, and Tyler gets out his sandpaper block. On Sunday, Tyler continues to sand away, and we both gain confidence in the idea that we might actually know what we’re doing. We skip a few days, then Tyler sands more mid-week, and then it’s Thursday. I prime the axle slots as the directions direct, and then Kat sets the boys up with the selected paints. Connor has a pre-fab pine wood car that he paints red, and Tyler does a superb job with his car, giving it several coats. On Friday night, I lightly lubricate the wheel hubs and axles with graphite, and we tap in the axles, securing the wheels. We then place the car on an old kitchen scale, and it looks like 5 ounces (the limit) with the pre-fab weights we bought. Whew. Close. These weights have pre-fab cuts to aid in the careful work of reducing just enough weight, but I decide that we might just make the weight without any cuts. I confess that this is laziness on my part; I was not sure about the whole hack sawing zinc concept, so I punted.

We get to the Derby on Saturday morning, and Tyler is very proud of his effort. We take the Family and the car to the school cafeteria/gym. Some of the cars there are amazing, and the kids should be commended. In other cases, the cars look amazing, and the parents should be commended! The Pack has this down to a system; there is an impound area as well as a repair area. Tyler brings his Yellow Racer to the registration desk, where they check the tolerances on a section of test track, and it passes. Then, the postage scale. I felt a sudden panic as I glance over at a few fathers furiously fixing their sons’ out-of-regulation cars. The registrar takes the car, places it on the scale, and the magic number is displayed: 5.0. Whew! The registrar says, “Perfect!”, and the car is impounded.

Tyler’s Tiger Cub den has about ten first graders, and seven of them made cars for the Derby. I was filming and taking pictures, two activities that we are terrible about doing consistently, so honestly, most of the racing was a blur. I distinctly remember the first race, when my next door neighbor says to me, “Watch carefully, because the races will be close.” Tyler’s name is drawn to race the opening race for the entire Derby, and I find myself unexpectedly nervous. I don’t see myself as a LittleLeagueDad, complete with ObnoxiousBehavior and bonus LivingVicariouslyThroughMyKids, yet here I am, thinking, “Oh man, let him win at least once…” The Derby is set up as a double elimination deal, so he will race at least twice, but having never done this before (some of Tyler’s denmates are younger brothers), I am not sure what to expect. The two cars are released, and they get to the finish line in about 4 seconds. Well, 4.001 and 4.002 seconds, actually, except we were using fathers as judges rather than electronic timing, so the two dads look at each other as if to say, “Uh-oh, this is going to be much harder than I thought…” So, a re-do is ordered, and this time, Tyler wins by a nose, literally. Unbelievable.

During the rest of the Derby, I generally remember that Tyler’s car continued winning, sometimes by coming from behind. I think, wow, this is huge beginner’s luck; after all, neither of us has ever participated before, and it feels great to see Tyler enjoying the day. To his credit, Tyler was into the racing at an appropriate level without becoming a poor sport, and I think this was equally true among all the scouts that day.

The results? Tyler went undefeated in his Den, and will represent the Tigers in the Blue Gold Banquet in the Spring. Congratulations, Tyler!

This hits us hard. The young boy was the son of two wonderful parents who are very active in our school and the affiliated church, serve as the school’s Cub Scouts Cubmasters, and have three other children, who also attend the school. Tyler just started scouting as a Tiger Cub this year, and we became closer and more involved with this family through Scouting. Kat serves on the school PTO with the boy’s mother, and his father is on the school board. Tyler was on a school field trip with his class, so Kat ensured that she was there at the school when Tyler’s class returned, in order to offer Tyler and his classmates the support they needed at a time like this.

Kat and I have been processing this information tonight, and we agreed that the day has just been surreal. I cannot imagine what the family is going through right now, though it sounds as though there were a great many relatives at the home offering their comfort and support.

Hug and kiss your kids whenever you have the opportunity…

Anyway a short thought that I cannot let go of, so I’m placing it here, instead.