He was totally blown away. Look at that "O" face!

There are a few things everyone should do at least once in this lifetime…..slow dance with someone that you have a crush on…..eat a warm, ripe peach right off the tree…..rock a baby to sleep…..skinny dip in the ocean….attend a Monster Truck rally…..

I’ve now actually been TWICE which I’m pretty certain means that I’m cooler than you AND that i will likely be ahead of you in line to enter heaven. Don’t complain, I don’t make the rules.

My first ever monster truck excursion was fueled mostly by a desire to witness the jaw dropping feats of redneck fashion coupled with the prospect of seeing some seriously huge tires crush all that lie in their paths. But in recent months, Shepherd, who is the older brother to my godson sweet baby Grant, has developed a love for all things Monster Truck. This is a rather entertaining advancement as neither of his parents are into ANYTHING of the sort. It happened to be on tv one day and his mother came into the room to find his 2 year old little self completely still and mesmerized. From then on its been a full on love affair with Grave Digger, Maximum D,  Blue Thunder and assorted others. Of course the moment they started airing the commercials for the big-tired funfest we knew we had to take him.

I find his fascination with this ten-ton, big-engined world to be so amusing simply because it is clearly his own little personality speaking, completely uninfluenced.  Soon enough he will understand the meaning of peer pressure and the ridiculous idea that you are better off if you like the same things every one else does. It takes many of us half a lifetime to realize its ok to be uniquely ourselves even if it means we aren’t part of the majority…..and sadly some people either never acquire this information or remain too scared to act upon on it.  But for now, Shepherd is in that magical moment where silly things, like the opinions of the masses, don’t sway him one bit.

The first 15 minutes or so, he seemed a little overwhelmed and i worried he might be too young for so much loud noise and action.  To be quite honest, its almost a little much for us grown ups. But soon his little eyes lit up as he managed to process the madness and he became completely enthralled.

“Digger!” he would squeal and beam up at me, Nikki, Mike or his dad.

“MONSTER TRUCKS!” (this was shouted with much growling and a serious crease on his forehead as though he knew what it meant to be tough)

 For the next few hours i spent most of my time watching his little face light up as he watched the diesel-fueled daredevils defy the laws of gravity and reason.

In the car on the ride home as he drifted to sleep in the seat next to me, i looked at his little footie-pajama clad feet and settled back with a warm sense of contentment. There are so many experiences in this world that it would be a shame to miss….and i will be the first to admit that Monster Trucks hold a reasonably high ranking…..but way up there…..right close to the top…..next to things like “fall in love”, “Climb K2″, and ”end world hunger” is this: Dont miss the chance to do something for someone you love that floods them with more joy than their body can almost contain…..I promise, it will be one of the prettiest sites you will ever see.