Another Success… Circa 2019
How does one define success? Brother Webster, of dictionary fame, refers to “success”, the noun, as being “a degree or measure of succeeding”. Well heck… what good are you bro’? Using another form of a word to define The Word? Not quite what I was after. In fact, that’s kinda dumb! So I sought a second audience with his esteemed self, to tell him so, but instead, we spoke of the degree of delight experienced by all the longstanding and newfound friends who enjoyed each other at the Badger Bimmers’ 2019 Champagne Picnic… 32 strong plus four kiddies. His wise eyes lit up as he offered the more exacting “achieving a favorable or desired outcome”. Not fancy by any means but he nailed it the second time around. Quite pleasing given that his offerings of possible antonyms included some pretty harsh possibilities, including, “bummer”; “bust”; the car-appropriate “misfire”, and the amazingly accurate possibility which occurred to my co-driver/navigator and me in the days and hours leading up to 11:00am on Sunday, September 29th; the dreaded “washout”.
I’m not kidding. Look it up. He musta figured it was going to rain.
When last have you enjoyed a walk in the rain… barefoot, head back, eyes closed, mouth wide open… going nowhere? You coulda done it in a field in Fort Atkinson on the said day, and perhaps several other folks, a few frogs and a fish or two would have joined you, in spite of what the neighbors’ unkind “observations” might have been. To each his own, right? I love rain. All forms of it, ‘cept the solid stuff. Some folks prefer desert-like conditions. I like sexy haunches… er… yes dear… I’ll behave; on cars. Jeff’s Aston Martin comes pretty close to perfection in that regard. On the other hand, some demented folk think that the Daimler SP250 is the most beautiful car to ever have existed. Well, maybe not “some”, but there’s at least one wacked out person out there. Misguided.
All present delighted in stories… so many wonderful memories… each precious to the teller, for the enjoyment of the listener; in a dry, warm space, while the amazing 4-wheeled machinery which brought us together sat patiently, waiting for the moment when the kind folks would “oooooo!” and “ahhhhh!”,while taking pictures of the pretty little water droplets beading up on the painstakingly polished immaculate tucks and curves of our respective babies; the things that keep us up at night fretting about who is doing what to our precious blau mit weiss objects d’art, resting quietly in the garage. Grandkids are special too; Adaline’s successful art sale fund raiser with proceeds destined for a favorite charity kept folks reaching for their wallets… thank you! And future Badger Bimmerite Jack brought his own car which curiously runs on the same thing he drinks from that funky bottle; must be some newfangled energy-related technology.
We sampled amazing treats; delicious smoked salmon and clam dip; sweet, juicy fruit, etc. while staring longingly at the lovely Alpina B7 and legendary e39 M5, a pair of ZHPs, sexy haunches wearing a M2 badge… har har!, a certain blue 335i track rat that I almost ran over one time, 328xi coupe and sedan, a 330i Touring, Z3, 135i, a pretty M3, e28, a monster X5 that readily pulls .8g in sweeping bends, a certain R53 JCW Mini Cooper S wearing a “KNOT H1S” rear license plate, affectionately referred to as “The Jailbird” around these parts, with good reason, but we’ll leave that for another time. Then there was a 1976 2002, chamonix in color, that walked off with the People’s Choice award, much to the delight of Linda & Dave who will celebrate at the upcoming Badger Bimmers’ Holiday Party, compliments of our Badger Bimmers’ Family. Brats, served on those perfect buns, were enjoyed along with delicious salads and the always popular hot calico bean casserole compliments of Steve and Georgia. Jeremy’s cran apple walnut salad with maple vinaigrette was a delicious meal in itself! And the desserts… oh my! Cheesecake compliments of Jerry and Diane and just about every kind of scrumptious cookie one could ever hope for.
This was about enjoying time with each other and welcoming several new members into the fold. This was about celebrating Tom and Janet Rost who started this event many moons ago when I had hair. Bad hair, but at least it was hair. We toasted their memories with the obligatory glass of champagne. Such a fine couple. This was about honoring the memory of our dear fellow track rat and good friend Steve Werner with a moment of silence, followed by another toast. Steve woulda thought we were nuts but we did it anyway. Mary, thanks for sharing Steve with us. We love you! Steve is one of the funniest guys I have ever known. This was about not wanting to say those goodbyes even though the day was drawing to a close. Rain? What rain? As our dear friend Larry from the State Capital city would say, “oh bother”.
So many people to thank! To all who made the trek to our little corner of the world, thank you! We questioned our sanity with all the work that goes into planning and executing this event, to the extent that its continued existence was in question, but your smiling faces and the excitement of hanging with like-minded folks, for good conversation, pretty much signed us up for another year. David, thank you for hanging by the 1976 vintage Weber grill to perfectly prepare the brats! Jerry, thank you for once again visiting a day early, to fog the skeeters into submission, so we could enjoy the great outdoors. Bill, thank you for picking up the champagne and glasses and for coming early to kick registration into high gear. Thank you Jeff and the Badger Bimmers Board for continuing to support this event. Thank you Jenny for donating door prizes for the day, this time from New York Life; Jenny always provided door prizes from Zimbrick in Madison where she was our Preferred Automotive Purveyor, but she has hung out her own shingle… and still likes us car folk. Anyone need to review their insurance stuff? I know where you can find someone to help! We had a surprise planned for this event that would have blown your minds, and it was 99% executed, but a too-soft field pulled the plug at the last moment. Thank you Don and all others who worked to make this possible…. we’ll hold it in reserve. Maybe next year. Thank you to all those whom I have forgotten to mention specifically! Most important, thank you to my co-driver/navigator for making this celebration possible; without all her hard work and attention to detail this would not be possible. I owe you one. Ok… so make that, another one to add to the list. Sigh…
Success indeed! Still a little damp around the gills… er… ears.
Y’all be safe.
Peter
