Here is one man's take I found too good not to share.
Adam's Story:
What is it that you do to get away from the stress of day to day life? I would like to tell you about a pond that is that place for me. Our journey begins on a back Georgia country road. The red hue from the clay surface shows the path to our final destination. As we crest the final hill the dull light of the early morning sun reveals the outline of the reason we came here.
At the bottom of the hill is a body of water that appears as a dark shadow against the background. Surrounded by fields of recently picked cotton on both sides with a row of tall pines to the backside. There is a fog over the water from the touch of the cool, crisp air to the warm water. We travel the path to the edge of serenity and place our feet in the cool, luscious grass kissed by the morning dew. Step up next to the bank with a cup and breath in the country air. It?s this pond nicknamed SOWEGA, that is our escape from reality for a few days.
If you take a look to the left and the right, you?ll see all the friends that gather at this sacred place. Walk around greeting with handshakes and hugs to the people that make this pond the one place I get excited to come back to. Led by the owners of the pond this group of individuals are some of the best people I have ever met. I have traveled this country and participated in many different types of events but have never felt more welcome in any other place. Willing to do anything to help a friend.
We all stand around talking about all of life's adventures that have taken place since our last meeting. A few of the guys have dropped a line in the water as we heckle them as to who will bring in the biggest fish. It?s at that moment with these people when all my cares of day to day life drift away and a feeling of pure happiness overcomes me.
Now for the reason we come here. It?s to race but what do we race? If you were to walk the northern edge of the pond you would notice popup tents lined up. Under each of these tents are custom built, highly modified remote-control boats. Many crazy colors, different sizes and model types.
In the middle of it all is a dock with a drivers stand built slightly back and raised above the ground level for the ultimate viewing. If you gaze out onto the pond you can see a course mapped out by orange buoys. The sound of boats begin to echo through the valley as we all start warming up our engines.
The races begin heat after heat until you are called for your turn. Once you are called your palms begin to sweat a little and that feeling of excitement with a bit of nervousness overcomes you. You climb to the top of the drivers stand and find your place. Your hands get a little shaky. Your pit man tosses your boat in the water and you slowly make your way around the course getting a feel for the ripples in the water caused by a slight breeze.
There is clock in the middle of the course counting down to zero. The clock hits zero and at this point all the boats go to full throttle and creates a sound that makes you think of a swarm of angry bees on steroids. The boats blast past the starting line at speeds in excess of 50 plus mph. Heading into the first turn all you can see is a water spray from the boat's propellers.
We navigate this course for eight laps trying to keep the boats upright and running. With the goal is winning the heat. We repeat this process over and over again in hopes to win the race for nothing more than bragging rights.
It's Sunday afternoon and the racing is over. We load up our boats and pack up for the trip home. Everyone gathers for the trophy ceremony. Collect our bragging rights and say our good byes to our friends that we already long for the next encounter. We take a few minutes of silence and stand by the pond. Breath in and take one last look at this beautiful body of water that we came to enjoy. The trip home we talk about all the ups and downs of the weekend.
Thank you SOWEGA Pond for being my escape from reality.
