The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I do not classify myself as a book fiend or anything like that, however as I look over at the dresser next to my bedside, I do see several books stacked one on top of the other...some waiting to be read...some freshly read, but still demanding my attention for one reason or another...some mine, some Jen's, some Kathy's. There are books about vampires, books about aliens, a couple of journals....

Recently, a friend at work handed me a book about racing in the rain. "Read this," Deni said "I think you will like it." What is this? A book about racing?! Seems I can't even get away from it at the office, and why is there a picture of a dog on the front anyway?

I took The Art of Racing in the Rain home at lunch and sat down on the sofa to read a few pages. Thirty minutes later I had to rush out the door to make it back to the office on time. I couldn't wait to get home that afternoon to read more about Enzo's theories on life, relationships, love, old age, ailments, and yes even racing cars in the rain.

Reasons I loved this book:

• Enzo's racecar driver/owner Denny, secured him in the front seat of his car with a bed sheet, then took him on a wild ride on a road course. I felt Enzo's joy as he lived every lap of his very fast ride. I learned that two barks means, "Faster, faster!" (I will use the knowledge I gained by reading this book in my own relationship with grandpup Chance.)

• There was the time Enzo accidentally got left at home for 3 days without food or water (except for toilet bowl water). Enzo began hallucinating (or not) as a stuffed toy zebra came to life, began dancing around and misbehaving with the other toys in the room. Enzo became quite irritated with the misbehaving zebra. Before it was over, that zebra had destroyed every stuffed animal in the room! Naughty, naughty zebra!

• Enzo watched a lot of television - he KNEW that when his dog life ended, his soul would go on to live as a man. This he had learned by watching a documentary on TV. When he wasn't watching documentaries, he liked to watch videos of racing, or movies about racing. He used the knowledge he gained by watching television to ensure that he would be ready for his new life as a man when this one ended. With that in mind he lived his dog life fully and he embraced it.

This is great story about a dog's life from beginning to end, as told from the dog's point of view...and if I EVER get another dog, I think I will name him Enzo.

UPDATED: More from Indy AMA Dragbike Racing

Jen with her Great Aunt Sunday ~ I absolutely love this picture; Jen with her toe socks and my wonderful aunt with her lovely pink hat. It is these things that help make special people magnificently unique :0)

Me, Jen and Roger waiting in line for a qualifying pass ~ note the wonderful Indiana corn growing in the background

Baby brother John, Me, Big brother Joe and Dad at O'Reilly Raceway Park

Cousin Wayne and Roger work on Busa clutch

Jen's new signature helmet

Jen's very handsome Uncle John shows some attitude - 2 days later on August 5th he became a Grandpa to baby Isacc

Me, Roger and Jen trying to relax before a test run

Just gotta' love the flowers growing up out of the top of my hat

Jen and her Uncle Joe discuss racing strategies

A little shade up in the stands never hurts. I try my best to protect Dad (Grandpa) from the hot Indy sun

Jen catches some extra rest before Saturday's time trials begin(wearing my favorite of her toe socks)

Cousin Wayne! Those are some great legs! Are you in competition with Jen and her toe socks?

Indy - O'Reilly Raceway Park

a.k.a. Indianapolis Raceway Park

Indianapolis, Indiana

AMA Dragbike

August 1 - 3, 2008

She's in line there somewhere!

Wow, have I ever been a slacker. We made it to Indy and completed an entire day of 'test and tune' when Jen's new custom signature helmet arrived via American Airlines (& Michael) - it is gorgeous! And it has now been thoroughly tested :)

Jen's Grandpa pictured on left on the turbo Hayabusa, Jen on the right at O'Reilly Raceway Park, flowers compliments of Aunt Sunday (homegrown) and new helmet designed mostly by Jen compliments of sponsor Akuma Helmets.

*****************

We had a wonderful week and weekend with family and friends. Since we were so busy, you will mercifully get the shortened version.

Most importanty, Jen set a new personal record on her GSXR 1000 of 9.21 seconds in the 1/4 mile. She ran the wheels off that bike while entertaining amazed family members all the while.

~ Jen prepares to line up against this beautiful bike in Pro ET ~

One of the motorcycles she ran against in the first round of Pro ET was this beautifully painted wheelie bar bike. The detailing on this bike was fantastic, the bike incredibly fast, and its pilot a gentleman...even after she beat him!

During a rare break in the competition on Sunday, family members gathered under the shade of the awnings to chat, eat homemade rhubarb/strawberry pie, cookies, apples (all provided by our Aunt Sunday - pink hat, far end of the picture!) and drink gallons of refreshing water.

Hey ~ it wouldn't be an AMA Dragbike race without a picture of Jen's 'toe-socks!'

Jen and Michael prepare to leave pits to line up for a race

Sadly, all good things must come to an end as Jen says goodbye to her grandpa as Uncle Joe looks on.

I have a few more pics to share which I will post soon, so until then!

Oreo Cows!

Oh my goodness! I cannot believe what I saw! We are making our trek to Indy for Jen's race and there they were, standing in a field not too far from Tyler, Texas. An entire field of Oreo cows - it is the greatest thing I have ever seen...well, possibly not the greatest, but certainly right up there near the top of a very long list of great things to see!

Could these beauties possibly be a kin to the Belted Galloway cattle I found on the internet? Jen had actually told me about such things - it seems there are some more of these adorable cattles (is that a word...cattles?) somewhere near Kerrville, Texas. If that is so, I am afraid I will not be satisfied with this photo I found when googling Oreo cows - and yes, that's just what I googled. I must find them and get an actual picture :0)

Talk about having your milk and cookies!!!

Indy or Bust!

Hotel reservations have been made, entry fees paid, and days off work scheduled. Only thing left to do is get there...and pay for gas! This will be Jen's first AMA Dragbike race in Indianapolis and what a treat that will be. Indy is the racing capital of the world, making racing at Indy just plain special :o) It all begins on August 1st - watch for updates.


In the mean time, here are a couple of pictures from the Bristol Race last month (thanks to Yvonne for being there to take them!)

Rule #1 - Drink lots of water

Always remember, and never forget - there is a lot of waiting in line at these races!

July 4 Motorcycle Shootout - Bang!

Friday evening Jen competed in a 4th of July Motorcycle Shootout at San Antonio Raceway where she proceeded to show those boys who was boss of the dragway. Jen pulled her best time down the San Antonio quarter mile at 9.23 seconds, 155 mph on her GSXR 1000.

At that point she had to make the decision as to what her ET (estimated time) would be for competition (can’t go too fast, and can’t go too slow), so she set it at 9.3 seconds - a new San Antonio track record for females. She purred (or should I say roared?) through the first few rounds of competition in the Street ET and the Pro ET classes when, during a break in the race competition, a cager (motorcycle racer's definition of a race car driver) went down the track dumping his whole load of synthetic oil along the entire ¼ mile!

Track officials worked until after 11:30 p.m. before announcing it a lost cause for the night. What a disappointment. She had those two races in the bag! So, although disappointed she didn’t get an opportunity to finish those boys off, it was still great to see them all shaking in their boots!

We are looking forward to Indy on August 2 & 3.

************

Disclaimer: all posts on 'Butterflies' are the biased opinion of the Mom/Grammy/Daughter/Sister.

Old Tunnel ~ Fredericksburg, TX

Bat Crossing

Old Tunnel ~ Fredericksburg, Texas

Roger and I spent part of the July 4th holiday week in Fredericksburg, TX (home of the Enchanted Rock, only one of a multitude of great adventures to be found in this area). While there we experienced a ‘bat emergence’ (that is correct, I said BAT Emergence) at 'Old Tunnel' - a train tunnel through one of Fredericksburg’s very large 'hills' - the tunnel was built in 1913 and operated for less than 30 years.

Anyway, not to shorten the history lesson, but there are some 3 Million bats that fly out of that tunnel nightly for several months out of the year. Sadly, the mother bats recently left to have their babies in a nearby cave with a warmer temperature (baby bats like it at about 100 degrees!) and there were ONLY several hundred thousand bats that flew out during our visit. The mother bats will bring the babies back in August. We plan to visit again at that time.

The 'bat emergence' was an enlightening experience and we came away from it with far less fear of the tiny, cute? mammals!