Gravity at the Ag Fair...

  Nine years ago, I remember my daughter winning the Toddler Trot at the Louisa Agricultural Fair.  It was a shining moment.  I, proud father, watching as my genetic product outshined that of all the other parents who had entries in the race.  Yes, truly a proud moment.  I, of course had nothing to do with it; but also felt like I had everything to do with it.  After all, I operated the video camera that recorded the victory!  Yeah, doesn't really translate to a Rocky training montage, but still...

  Fast forward to this past summer...the Zucchini Car Races.  My son's entry, the "Zoom-Cchini" (yes, you know that name was my idea - see, I contributed, friends and neighbors) ran into some technical issues, but it looked awesome, Angry Birds duct tape decorating it and really making it pop.  Now, my daughter's car, "ZuQueeni" blasted the competition.  It was like there was an engine powering her great big squash-car to victory while the other cars merely depended on gravity...but, there was no engine, there was simply the impeccably-constructed "ZuQueeni" harvesting the power of the force Sir Isaac Newton sat down and described with pen and paper (he didn't "discover" gravity, it wasn't like people were floating around aimlessly before he authored his treatise - but he's credited with making its study more accessible to academia).

  Her car was an amazing piece of vegetable engineering (there's a terminology I never figured I'd be using when I woke up that morning) and she, again, proved her moxey at the Ag Fair.  

  You know, if you think about it, she had to master gravity in both of the races (acrawl and, hum, acchini); but, in two completely different ways.  In the Toddler Trot, she had to overcome gravity - she had to beat the force that seeks to pull us to the ground as she made her way to the finish line.  In the Zucchini Car Races, she didn't so much master gravity as much as use it as an ally - and she used it both effectively and efficiently!  And it wasn't even close when she raced!  She blew the competition away...and I was beaming!

  It's funny the things in which a father takes pride.  But, news flash, fathers take pride in pretty much everything.  My little girl makes me proud every single day, and so does her little brother!

  The wagon rolls on (well behind the green and pink blur that is "ZuQueeni").  Thanks for riding shotgun.