CHRISTIAN COUNTY INVITATIONAL

The last two days I have been watching the extended forecast for Saturday morning in preparation to cover the Christian County Invitational in Hopkinsville.

On Thursday, WPSD Local 6 in Paducah was showing rain at a 50 % chance for Saturday.

On Friday they were showing rain in the morning leaving out by noon.

Since rain is the ultimate enemy of pictures and video at meets this put me in a tough spot. My wife, Daisy, and three kids were going to attend the meet with me, but they pulled out when rain came into the picture. What to do?

I decided I would check the radar on Saturday morning to make a final decision. At 7:15 I was looking at the radar trying to guess how long the rain would hang out in Hopkinsville. It had rained at my house and was in the process of passing, but I live 90 miles west of Hopkinsville so the weather was just heading that direction. I called the meet timer, Cory Westerfield, who was already there. He told me the rain had not started yet, but it was cold and looked like it could rain any moment.

I finished getting ready, my wife told me I was crazy and headed out with my bag full of stuff for to cover the meet. I drove down the road fighting a steady rain, but I could see patches of sun above the clouds. "The weather is going to be fine, maybe not for the varsity races but by the middle school races," I thought.

Ten miles down the road, Cory let me know it had started raining there. I told him I was already on the road so I was coming, regardless. Ten miles after that I started looking around in my car. Oh no, I think. Have I, please tell me I did not. I called my wife's cell phone. No answer. Call the home phone and my son, Aiden, answers.

"Aiden is my wallet laying on the counter in its normal spot," I ask.

"Yes it is," states Aiden.

Now I am just back to the question of what to do. Do I drive another 70 miles to Hopkinsville without my driver's license and money? My wife calls me and proceeds to jokingly make fun of me (as she will the rest of today.) So at this point I decide it is a sign that I am meant to go back home. So I get off and exit in Marshall County and head back down the Purchase Parkway back to Graves County.

I am not a speed demon anymore driving so I was not worried about being pulled over but seeing how my luck was going this morning the risk was too high. No money means no lunch as well. Plus the rain and cold, so it leads back to typing this about the time the Varsity Girls race is finishing at Christian County. My apologies to the folks of western Kentucky for not being there to get a ton of pictures and video.