The middle of August brings with it a classic event: The Turner County Fair.

Billed as the “four best days of summer,” I make the annual trip to the county fair where I eat a dozen sticks of chislic (grilled sheep), one large pork sandwich and homemade ice cream. To top it off, a night of bingo with the VFW generally resulting in losing $4-5 dollars, $.50 at a time.

After growing up going to fair every summer, it’s not often that anything at fair surprises me. This summer however, I discovered a new experience: ENDURO!

Enduro is an epic battle where beat-up cars drive around a mud track. When they get stuck or break down, they have to stay right where they stopped. Soon the track is littered with vehicular corpses, acting as roadblocks for potential winners. Only the car that can can keep driving walks away with the coveted title of Enduro Champion.

Some days, it feels like we are on the Enduro track, driving along avoiding roadblock after roadblock. It’s easy to get hit, but just like Enduro, the key to succeeding is to reverse away from the wreck and start driving again. Inevitably there will be crashes, inevitably you will get stuck, but it is always the driver who can escape from the accidents and mud that ends up winning.

When you hit your next roadblock, remember the lessons from Enduro and keep driving. Or remember the other lesson I learned: avoid eating more than a dozen sticks of chislic.