Consumption
How many Ferraris has this wall consumed? In two days at Sonoma Raceway, I know of two. The durable goods of Maranello, at play in the land of the fancy winos, are a symphony howling around the track. Until the crunch of carbon fiber meeting concrete interrupts the crescendo. The late sixty something dude in his - how much more red could this outfit be and the answer is none, none more red - racing suit was making small talk this morning. It seems his 458 Challenge wasn’t fixed from his most recent wall-banger until 7:30 pm yesterday, and the guys had to pull an all-nighter to get it up here from LA.
Such are the problems of the Ferrari Challenge Cup set; all First-World. “I know the feeling”; I share with the serial prancing pony abuser, “an F-150 bounced off the Jeep on the way up here”.
And so I greet Colin at the airport with the news that our Jeeps are all the more similar – spare tire holders both bent in repelling stern blitzes. I stopped to talk with a RWG attorney working on a City project. Minding my own affairs, dead-stopped in a parking lot. F-150 entering the 101 looks left for traffic, sees none, looks into the setting sun and punches it. Boom! The billable hour stops. Spare tire holder cracked. Tailgate bent but functioning. Neck kinda hurts. Jeep fully operational. F-150 seen better days. Toledo goods are apparently more durable than either those of Detroit or Maranello. The F3 Colin is here learning to pilot is also quicker round the track than the 458s. Tough day, all around, for the rosso corsa crowd.
The durability of goofing off together is the gift Colin and me give each other for Spring Break. See new sights, pick up new skills, take risks, go fast, tell jokes, crash every now and then, eat different and sometimes bad food … it’s all a grand respite from the too seriousness of academic and / or professional life. It’s also – or at least I’ve tried to make it – a school in itself. Baseball. Skiing. Climbing. Surfing. Driving. Here’s some people who know what they are doing. Pay attention to not just what they tell you, but how they’ve made their passion their livelihood.
The life lesson pops up on the food hunt. Trolling the lovely town square of Sonoma (don’t get me started on my love of real town squares) Colin picks a winner. The words “Pizza” and “Shack” catch his eye and he can’t contain his optimism. He explains; “either pizza or shack work for me”. He continues; “together … that’s gotta be good”. And so we have excellent and simple Italian fare at Mary’s Pizza Shack, while reading Mary’s life story on the menu of making her love of uncomplicated food her family’s livelihood. Here’s hoping the story is as real as the town square. We also watch the Cubs have an eight run inning against the Giants, later listening on the radio as they pick up the 16 – 14 win well into the evening.
The sun consumes fifty one trillion tons of hydrogen between each earthly dawn. And we get x number of days. The food’s not always great, and sometimes the Ferrari doesn’t make Turn 11. The home team doesn’t always have an eight run inning. But sometimes they do. The son’s not always in the passenger seat, cracking you up as you go. But sometimes he is.
Savor every such day.
