A Champion Is Born

This fourth of July weekend, the babe and I competed in the International Worm Races in Clearlake, CA. Clear Lake (two words, not to be confused with the town, Clearlake, one word), is billed as the largest natural freshwater lake within California and possibly the oldest lake in North America. I found this hard to believe, as Tahoe is notoriously humongous, but maybe when Tahoe's parceled out between Nevada and California the resultant hunk of water is less...either way, they have worm races on an international level, and once I found out there was no way I could miss it.

We arrived around noon, after stopping on the way to visit the Old Faithful Geyer of California. But wait a second, you say, isn't Old Faithful in Yellowstone? In a word: yes. However, these crazy Californians are piggybacking on that geyser's international fame with a similarly named, smaller but no less impressive geyser that's much more conveniently located to where I live. Also, this one had a pen of fainting goats and llamas on the property that's guaranteed to make your dog go nuts.


On the way into Clearlake I counted three Confederate flags and about thirty trailers. It was shaping up to be a King of the Hill kind of day. The Clearlake 4th of July festivities were pretty cool though: antique car showcase, cheap beer, some absolutely gut-twisting carnival rides, and plenty of sunburns. We immediately found the worm races, slapped down our entry fee ($3, or $5 for 2) and got down to business.

It works like this: pick a worm out of the dirt, clean it off in the bucket of water, and then put it in the middle of a table with concentric circles drawn on it (kind of like an archery target). The first worm all the way over the last line and out of the circles wins.

The first go, we both lost. However, the second time around, Karla's worm, Herman, creamed not only my worm but also the worms of two nicish but strangish Mormon missionaries. On to the finals! Karla won her heat in the finals in exciting fashion, with Herman opting for the UNDERNEATH move to slink by logjammed worms and on to victory. In the over-18 championship, Herman managed to hang on for third place, although he stopped with his tail on the finish line for about a minute and a half and only eventually moved because of intense encouragement from the crowd. Karla also had the full force of her heritage on her side, because these were Canadian nightcrawlers and her excessive politeness obviously was a motivating factor.

In the end, Karla went home with a 3rd place trophy, warm memories, and the respect of her peers. She also was interviewed twice by the local PA system handler, in which she divulged that Herman was prodded along in part by threats to cut him in half if he lost. Picture of Karla and Herman to follow!