Thank God I’m a country boy.

Okay, so down south I’d be a redneck. But my last week in Michigan was definitely ‘country boy’ world. Topped off with having an alternator for my bike rebuilt (for $75) versus replaced like in the city (for $601 “plus labor”); to demolition derby and tractor pulls, you just don’t experience anything like this outside of “the Thumb”.

So, the weekend starts out at my brother, Dale’s house for a family gathering and celebration of my niece, Whitney’s birthday. And then progresses to Elkton for the Autumn Festival, where I of course park my house.

The first night of festivities includes the demolition derby. For the uninitiated, this is where a bunch of country boys, and a few country girls, spend the previous month frantically trying to get a car running, not so they can get to work, but rather so they can smash it against the cars of their friends (and sometimes enemies). For instance, this is a sequence of shots of one the heats. (You can double-click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

I know, you are thinking “Lon, HOW do you top THIS?” Well, imagine taking your average tractor out of the field, just before you’re are going to harvest this year’s crops, and souping it all up and challenging your buddies to see who pull the most weight the farthest down a gravel road! Yep, and you might as well set up a beer tent next to this road, because people are going to want to drink beer while they are cheering you on. I give you, The Tractor Pull:

And tractors come in all colors andshapes (and modifications)

And even trucks!

One day of this weekend event included a classic car show. This was really fun because it involved not only Model A’s and other older classics, but also many muscle cars that we all grew up with. Here are a few.

And here’s my brother’s car:

Yeah, I come from a pretty cool family.

Life is good, in the country.