A day at the races

I don't get out much. That's partly by choice, because I'm not a big traveler, but it's also because there's seldom much to get out to. In my book, anyway. One of the few exceptions for me has been the Boonta Eve Pod Race at Mos Espa.

(Boonta Eve, incidentally, is not a Tatooine holiday. It's a Boonta holiday. I don't know what it commemorates. I assume it has something to do with the Hutts, since they are the ones who started the yearly pod-racing tradition on this planet. Boonta is the pod-racing capital of the galaxy, I realize that, but I don't know what the holiday is for.)

I don't go every year. I used to, but it got to be too expensive and time-consuming, especially after 1) I started taking my farming more seriously and 2) I lost a bundle on a certain pod race over 20 years ago, the first and only (so far) to be won by a human. (You can see me in some of the crowd footage - I'm standing behind a Rodian and I'm wearing brown.)

That was Luke's father, of course. I had put my money on Sebulba. I didn't like the cheating Dug, but I thought for sure he would win. When Skywalker Sr. won instead, I decided that I hated the kid. I mean, it was a great human interest story, but at the time, I was not in the mood for an inspiring story. I was broke.

I was surprised as anything a few years later when my neighbor Cliegg told me that he was seeing the kid's mother. Even more surprised when he bought her and brought her home. But that's another story.

Anyway, I haven't been in a few years, and the farming has been going well lately, so I decided to treat myself. I thought I should also treat Luke, since his mechanical ingenuity has been such a big help. I've already compensated Ben for the software help (I bought more of that lousy tea and agreed not to tell anyone about the man with the speeder bike), Kane for the disreputable business contacts (he's doing a koi pond - no I'm not kidding - and I'm filling it), One-Onegee for the steady hands (oil bath), and Owen for Luke's time (cash). But I wasn't sure if Owen was going to let Luke have any of the money, and I just figured the kid would get a big kick out of seeing what his father used to do.

I had to go over there anyway, to buy vegetables and ask Beru's advice on what went wrong with my chives (besides melting the pot and burning the soil). I also wanted to crow about how well the vaporators were working. I had not been able to convince Lars to try the modification, because it uses Jedix, and he just wasn't going to touch it. His loss. So, when I got there, they thought they already knew my agenda, and after a few minutes of boring grownup small talk, Luke went into the garage to, I'm not sure what exactly, slam a hammer against the hull of his T-16 for a little while is what it sounded like.

Here are the outcomes of those conversations:

1) All Beru has for veggies right now is leafy greens and fungus. No legumes. That means no fresh peas. It also means I need to buy some meat, because if I'm going to eat leafy greens and mushrooms, they'll have to be saturated with gravy. She says she's going to try root vegetables again. Ooh, that's good.

2) Smoking is bad for the plants and I shouldn't do it. Also, I shouldn't boil the water before I water the plants. I shouldn't even filter or shock it. I should just use the nasty stinky stuff right out of the recycler. Especially for Devaronian chives. I must say that was a shock. I think of plants as clean food and therefore I thought I was supposed to use clean water. Beru says no, they need nutrients and enzymes and such. I was worried about bacteria and she said that's what the slugs are for. Slugs? She said sure, and you can even train some of them to do little tricks. Uh. Thus concludes another attempt at gardening. I'll stick with hydroculture, thank you.

3) There's just no talking to Owen Lars about technology.

4) It's a good thing I waited for Luke to leave the room before I mentioned the races, and in retrospect I suppose I should have left the room first too, or better yet stayed home. All I said was, "is Luke interested in pod racing? I was thinking he might like to go to the speedway in Mos Espa with me." You would have thought I'd offered to take him to an orgy at Jabba's palace. The last thing that boy needs, I was told, is to have more big ideas in his head about traveling and fast living and questions about his father.

Owen was resolute. (In fairness, he's always resolute, about everything.) Beru looked doubtful and wanted to argue, and I suddenly realized that I had just stumbled onto a 12-year-old debate, a debate that had been going on ever since Luke was delivered to them, a debate that probably concerned Kenobi as well and that's why Owen could not share air with Kenobi and Kenobi would not discuss Luke and I couldn't talk to anybody about anything.

Awkward! A simple "no" would have sufficed.

Unfortunately, I'd already bought the tickets. I was going, at any rate. I thought of Biggs, but I didn't want to ask him and not his cousin, even though I knew she would probably say no, because I only had the one extra ticket. It turned out Darklighter was going anyway, and bringing the whole family.

There aren't any other neighborhood kids that I'm on friendly terms with, so I asked Kenobi if he wanted to go. I thought it was a simple question, but he changed his mind several times, I don't know why, and then eventually said yes. Knowing that my tickets were for terrible seats (high above some really great seats) seemed to reassure him. I think he's afraid of the cameras. I mean, he's still technically in hiding. Hardly anyone even knows about his Jedi past. But the point is, I won't have to go there alone looking like a loser with no friends.

The race is tomorrow. I'm charging up the landspeeder right now.