Combine Derby

The 2011 (24th Annual) Lind Combine Demolition Derby is over for another year. As I sit here attempting to sort through photos from a fantastic weekend and restrain myself from taking the sledgehammer to the computer (Seriously! A minute to load each new photo?) I figure I might as well start drafting a post about the Derby.

At 2 1/2 Jack thought the derby was pretty darn cool. He got to sit in Aunt Julie’s combine. He tried on her helmet. He watched the parade. Just about the only thing he didn’t do was sit still in the stands (and nap). A combination of excitement and exhaustion I suspect, plus he’s two. He walked around with Grandpa for awhile and watched a good portion of the derby from back in the pits. Fine by me. Fidgety toddler and open bleachers are a combination that make me nervous anyway. There was also some great dirt back in the pits and he’d brought along a toy bulldozer and a couple of tractors. By the end of the day he pretty much looked like Pig-pen from the Peanuts comic strip…cloud of dust and all.

Emilie, on the other hand, snoozed through just about the whole event. The only part she showed a real reaction to was the parade. The first entry was a large military vehicle with some sort of guns mounted on the front. They fired off those guns and that was it, she’d had it, and just wailed.

Julie did pretty well this year. She came in second for “best dressed combine” and was 4th out of 11 combines in the consolation round. If the Short Bus hadn’t sprung an oil leak I suspect she would have won that heat. However, for the sake of not having to replace and engine, she pulled her flag.

I put a bunch of pictures of the derby on Facebook so I’m not going to post those here. However I was encouraged to make a video (thanks mom!). There really aren’t any songs about combines out there, but I finally found a song that fit. Its called “Countrified” by Halfway to Hazard. Enjoy!