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Today in Sebring, Florida, the annual 12 Hours of Sebring race kicked off the 2006 American LeMans season.

Most of my indulgences are quiet ones – sleeping an hour or two extra on Saturdays, enjoying a good bourbon or a good riesling on a weekend evning, or savoring the victory and pride as a project or piece of code works for the first time. But there are a few that are not so quiet: and sportscar racing is one of them.

If my alarm clock could sound like anything in the world, I’d pick the unmistakable 7-liter rumble of racing Corvette rounding turn 14 of the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course. And in case that’s too soothing, the shrill wind-up of the five or six Porsches chasing it would probably be enough to get me out of bed after even the latest of nights! Of course, after having experienced the real thing as your alarm clock (100 yards from our camper on the last two trips), I doubt a dresser-top rendition would do the trick.

Hopefully, this may, Dad and I will once again have the opportunity to visit Mid-Ohio as track photographers. Heck, maybe this time I’ll actually get around to posting some of the photos here! But for now, I’m off to his house to catch up on the 12-hours, since he’s undoubtedly got it running on the surround sound…