Big tree number two is down, though far less fun than the backyard tree. Before any of the arborists come down on me as some kind of tree-hater, I love climbing, shade, aesthetics, oxygen and all of the other benefits trees provide. The backyard unit had roots coming up everywhere in the yard, which wood (funny misspell, huh?) have ruined our new sod. Our monster in the front also was experiencing root issues and we didn’t want to come home to a crushed roof. I really wood (still funny!) liked to have had a shot with the chainsaw and Nissan pickup (hardcore readers will know I may even take the chainsaw to the truck one day), but the Nissan’s clutch is fried and I have no time. Anyway, the front tree is toast, and Brent Cannon has two more years' supply of firewood. Now that the backyard is done, we want to beautify the front as well. Brent, Staci, and son Brad shuttled down from Wrightwood Sunday and Monday with their pickups and we loaded five bedfulls of tree.

When last I left you I was on my way to Gainesville to teach class Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Frank, as many of you may now know, was in Vegas getting his Funny Car license. I am sincerely excited as I thought Frank was one of the best “thinking drivers” of all time. He will race in Gainesville, and I think it’s wonderful for the sport. I left LAX at 10:30 p.m. Monday and arrived in Orlando at 6:20 a.m. I was sore. I was tired. I was ready for students. School went fine, unless you count all of the rain. After session two Tuesday the wet stuff put an end to the day. Wednesday we dodged rain all day, squeezing two more sessions in, but not quite finishing the class. I hauled butt back to Orlando (2 ¼ hours) to fly back home, and I so hate trying to get comfortable in an airplane anymore. I slept just enough to make everything sore, but not enough to write about (aren’t I writing about it now?).

I got home late Wednesday night, and we had a full schedule Thursday. I dropped Jenna at the dentist, went to Ontario to pick up two drums of Rocket Brand Racing Fuel for my Blackbird, headed over to pick up Jenna’s trailer in Fontana, and went back for my sore-toothed wife. In between I dropped Jason at Grandma’s so he wouldn’t back-seat drive while I got the trailer. Once the family was reunited, we sped over to the NHRA to get the chassis recertified on her Super Comper. Piece of cake! Now back home, with a detour at Kenny’s Tire in Reseda for new trailer tires. Top off Cindy’s dually with diesel and this day’s getting fairly pricey. Back home to reacquaint myself with backing a trailer into our narrow driveway, and call it a day (unloading fuel by yourself is no fun).

The reason for all of this work is that we are selling Jenna and Cindy’s car and trailer to a student of the Hawley School. Emily Williams impressed me when she licensed, and her father Chris attended to support her. They are taking car, trailer, quad, tools, and all. I am really anal about racing equipment, and I want everything to be ready to go for them. There’s nothing worse than getting excited about driving your new car only to find out much of the SFI dates have expired and you can’t pass tech. Once the new harnesses arrive from good friend and manufacturer’s midway guru Robert Buck, Em’s car is ready to race.

Though it’s rewarding to get everything “just right,” sometimes I wish I could just leave well enough alone. Case in point: Years ago Jenna was towing and her trailer lost several wheel studs. That wheel now has standard lug nuts, which can be rounded off easily if not careful. One of the broken studs wasn’t replaced, so I pulled everything apart to “make it right”. Five hours later I now am an expert on ½x20 wheel studs. Ditto for custom lug nuts. Five stores, one return trip (lefthand thread doesn’t work with righthand nuts), and five hours later and I’m DONE. Mounting the now-required engine diaper was more of the same. On the Blackbird, the straps on the diaper (it’s hard to say that without laughing) secure to the top frame rails and make for a clean installation. On Jenna’s car the top rails sit much lower, so I had to get the brackets from Cindy’s house and reinstall the unit. Good enough just doesn’t cut it sometimes, but that’s another two hours of my life I’ll never see again.

Speaking of diapers, my son Jason demonstrated that he still cannot defy gravity, but he must have elastic arms. While mom finally caught up on some sleep, I watched the little guy while going over my list of things to do for the day. My list didn’t include cleaning up lots of broken glass, picking remnants out of Jason’s hair, clothes, and ears, or kissing away the tears from a frightful fall that gave him a couple of scrapes and bruises. For the life of me I have no idea how he managed to knock the vase off of the table, but Jenna was up like a bolt of lightning and on us in two seconds flat. Maybe she’s the one with superhero power. Come to think of it, she functions with minimal sleep, changes massive diaper loads in the blink of an eye, and manages to clean up after me on a daily basis (not diapers, just me being messy). I possess no such super powers. I can’t microwave lunch without blowing something up and spackling the inside of the oven. I can’t even weld on the trailer without getting splatter on my wedding ring (let’s keep that little secret amongst us; Super Wife might not see the humor). If I had any powers, I think I’d like to be able to turn on my win light every single time down the track. Or maybe be able to get comfortable in the coach seats on airplanes. Or how about being able to block out all the noises from the hotel room next door at 3 a.m. Saturday night of a national event; wouldn’t that be cool?

Hey, I still know how to surf! Rich and I went out Saturday and had a blast. Not the best conditions, and really cold, but when it’s been about a month you can’t be a chooser. It felt wonderful getting out and doing the wave thing, and I can’t wait to get some more, though it may be a couple of weeks or longer with my schedule.

Sunday Emily came over to spend some time in the cockpit of her new ride, and Jenna talked her through all of the controls and procedures. We are taking the car up to Bakersfield March 1 and helping her and Chris get acclimated, then they will take it up to Seattle to begin her racing career. So this brings us right back to getting the last of the wood loaded and out of the yard. Between Jason, surfing, and loading trees, and detailing the PT Cruiser inside and out, I feel like an 80-year-old. My wife is the greatest massage therapist on the planet, she just is so busy with Jason that I don’t get spoiled anymore. However, if I’m going to make the drive to Phoenix tomorrow, I need some help tonight. I’m out of wood.

Stay tuned.

P.S. Ron Lewis just sent some photos that he took at Pomona, and I just love the angle, colors, and everything about this one, so I wanted to include it for all of you. Thanks, Ron.