Howdy drag racing fans and welcome to Boxing Day at the drags (in my best announcer voice)! That's right, it's Boxing day here in Australia which means it's Christmas day right now in the States. Well, I guess it's more like Christmas night, or at least getting close to it on the East coast. It is an absolutely fantastic day here in Western 'burbs of Sydney. As my friend Bob Frey would say, "It's a Chamber of Commerce day here at WSID!"
I hope all of you had a great Christmas and Santa found your names on the "Nice" side of the list. As I am writing this, the first two race fans here at the Boxing Day Scott Kalitta Memorial event have made their way to their seats...umbrella in hand. Nope, no rainclouds in sight, but the giant, fiery orb in the heavens is beating down pretty good today in Oz.
I've asked several people since we got here just exactly what is Boxing Day? And, I've heard a different answer each time, but according to Wikipedia, Boxing Day is a public holiday in Australia and countries with a mainly Christian population. It is based on the tradition of giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society. Contemporary Boxing Day in many countries is now a "shopping holiday" associated with after-Christmas sales. So, there you have it. All I know is that people around here have shown as much if not more excitement for Boxing Day than for Christmas. Also, for all of our friends in the states, you have to remember that it is the middle of summer here, so the Christmas traditions are completely different than what we are used to.
I've just attempted to fix my first spot of hot tea..."When in Rome...". I'm from Tennessee and drink tea cold and swimming in sugar, but I thought, "Hey, I'll give it a shot." Not bad...I bet if I popped it in the fridge and dropped a few packets of sweetener in it it would be just like my grandmother makes in a couple hours...well, maybe that's a tad of a stretch.
Last night, the whole lot of us Americans went to have Christmas dinner in downtown Sydney. The weather was spectacular and we ate at an open-air restaurant, "I'm Angus" (great name!). The food was great and so was the company. Jim"O" told us about him and Scott eating at the same place on a previous visit.
We've done a lot of talking about Scotty. It's still very hard to comprehend that he is not here with us, but knowing that we're here to race in his honor has been the biggest help for my coping. It's getting easier to smile when I think about him now. Until recently, the quick smiles were almost instantly followed by sadness, but I'm finding that since we've been here that that is getting "better". This morning when I opened my E-mail when I got set up here at the track, the top of my Inbox was occupied with a snapshot of the Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy (pictured). I've had a big smile on my face all morning just looking at it and thinking about Scott. It's a very comforting feeling that I hope is here to stay.
I've uploaded another gallery of photos from our festivities on Christmas day. Like always, you can find them in the Photo gallery at kalittamemorial.com. Thanks for stopping by. I will be checking in more often for the next couple of days. I will be publishing race results here as I get them. The great folks here at WSID have been very accommodating to me and I can't thank them enough! Talk to you in a bit! - TM
I hope all of you had a great Christmas and Santa found your names on the "Nice" side of the list. As I am writing this, the first two race fans here at the Boxing Day Scott Kalitta Memorial event have made their way to their seats...umbrella in hand. Nope, no rainclouds in sight, but the giant, fiery orb in the heavens is beating down pretty good today in Oz.
I've asked several people since we got here just exactly what is Boxing Day? And, I've heard a different answer each time, but according to Wikipedia, Boxing Day is a public holiday in Australia and countries with a mainly Christian population. It is based on the tradition of giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society. Contemporary Boxing Day in many countries is now a "shopping holiday" associated with after-Christmas sales. So, there you have it. All I know is that people around here have shown as much if not more excitement for Boxing Day than for Christmas. Also, for all of our friends in the states, you have to remember that it is the middle of summer here, so the Christmas traditions are completely different than what we are used to.
I've just attempted to fix my first spot of hot tea..."When in Rome...". I'm from Tennessee and drink tea cold and swimming in sugar, but I thought, "Hey, I'll give it a shot." Not bad...I bet if I popped it in the fridge and dropped a few packets of sweetener in it it would be just like my grandmother makes in a couple hours...well, maybe that's a tad of a stretch.
Last night, the whole lot of us Americans went to have Christmas dinner in downtown Sydney. The weather was spectacular and we ate at an open-air restaurant, "I'm Angus" (great name!). The food was great and so was the company. Jim"O" told us about him and Scott eating at the same place on a previous visit.
We've done a lot of talking about Scotty. It's still very hard to comprehend that he is not here with us, but knowing that we're here to race in his honor has been the biggest help for my coping. It's getting easier to smile when I think about him now. Until recently, the quick smiles were almost instantly followed by sadness, but I'm finding that since we've been here that that is getting "better". This morning when I opened my E-mail when I got set up here at the track, the top of my Inbox was occupied with a snapshot of the Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy (pictured). I've had a big smile on my face all morning just looking at it and thinking about Scott. It's a very comforting feeling that I hope is here to stay.
I've uploaded another gallery of photos from our festivities on Christmas day. Like always, you can find them in the Photo gallery at kalittamemorial.com. Thanks for stopping by. I will be checking in more often for the next couple of days. I will be publishing race results here as I get them. The great folks here at WSID have been very accommodating to me and I can't thank them enough! Talk to you in a bit! - TM
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