Pinewood Derby: Blackfish

We sent out a newsletter several months ago that touched on the Pinewood Derby. The point of the newsletter was that sometimes things that have no value to anyone else are incredibly valuable to us.

The Pinewood Derby is no different than any other “competition” between kids. Some parents turn it over to the kids. Some parents take complete ownership. And some parents work out a division of labor. I decided to go with the third option.

Marcellus and I picked up our kit on Sunday. The race was on Tuesday. We didn’t make a lot of progress on Sunday or Monday so I kept him home on Tuesday. #priorities

Together we cut the body out of the pine block, sanded it, sanded the axles, painted the body and then inserted the axles and wheels.

Marcellus and I were both heavy on the trigger during the painting process. So the final product left a little bit to be desired. (The large section of gloopy paint that came off while the axles were being inserted was hidden with a hurriedly crafted spoiler.)

To make sure we didn’t have any catastrophic failures we epoxied the axles in place. The race was scheduled for 6:00 PM. At 5:00 PM I realized that one of the wheels had been epoxied to the car. Fortunately we had just enough time to fix it.

The “Blackfish” had some tough competition but after four races emerged as best in class.

Both father and son were very happy. On the way home we started brainstorming about next year.

No one is going to want to buy the Blackfish from us. But I hope it has as much value to Marcellus when he’s grown up as the Pinewood Derby car my dad and I made has to me.

The Blackfish is a good exemplar (or totem) that represents the importance of viewing both damages and value through the eyes of the person who suffered the loss.