Rolling

A proper Pinewood Derby track costs $95 up to several thousand, but one can make due with $40 and a little elbow grease. A car costs $4, plus the time to make it roll. Enough cars to host a race comes in at $60. Then comes paint, woodworking tools, weights and the like.

But now, more than a dozen family members are pumped about a race only happening because we decided it should. Adults will race children, mothers against sons, grandfathers against unborn fetuses. Trash talking already sounds like a clanging symbol. One cousin claimed his car would be so fast it would catch fire. Another said his would change color. One car promised a rearview mirror to see the competition, another a metal chain to keep the racing close.

So, is it worth it? Somehow, yes. In perhaps the only family strange and close enough to make it happen, it is undoubtedly worth the hundred dollars and month of preparation. Amazing that such little things could play such a role in keeping a family together. Then again, what else would?