Rainbow over Sanford

A double rainbow stretches over the Sanford skyline Saturday following the monsoon. Notice that the outer rainbow is actually a mirror image of the inner one. The colors are transposed.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get married…

…but if I do, I want this to happen. A friend sent this to me on the Facebooks last night and I thought I’d share. It’s of Kevin and Jill Kheinz’s wedding entrance, set to Chris Brown’s “Forever.” And you know, it works surprisingly well.

The only thing I can compare it to was my best friend’s wedding, where the whole wedding party (myself included) wore sunglasses to the reception and entered to “Sunglasses at night.” We thought that was unorthodox…

The coolest thing about this clip is that it already has nearly 10 million views, in less than two weeks on the youtubes. Ah, the information age.

I’m bald now. Thanks!

So I went through with it. Last night was the annual St. Baldrick’s event at Local Joe’s Tap and Grill, and I was one of 119 “shavees” who raised much more than the night’s goal of $30,000. The last time I talked to event organizer Tony Chilton, the event had topped that goal before Saturday’s event through online donations and more than $10,000 had been raised at the event to boot.

The highlight of the night was the shaving of Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter. $2,500 had been raised before the event by the department, then Chilton managed to milk another $1,300 out of the crowd – including $500 from one member of the crowd alone – just to shave Carter’s head. Then another man offered another $100 if the barber would stop halfway through the shaving and leave Carter with a nasty do, which the barber did. Then another person offered $100 to start it back. In total, Carter’s head raised more than $4,000. Say what you will about politics, but Carter is a good man for raising all that money for a good cause. I bet he raised a few votes as well.

I was next after Carter. I raised what seemed like a paltry sum of $255 next to the high sheriff’s total, but I was told it was actually a good amount for one person.

I’ve never been bald. I was even born with about an inch of hair according to my mom, and I never thought I would do it. But I got to say it’s not that bad looking, and it actually feels great, especially on a hot day like today.

I’m not sure I am going to keep it, but I don’t mind it. I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts, and I have a good story to share with those who wonder why I have no hair.

All in all, the event was awesome, and my hat goes off to Tony Chilton, Joe Delvecchio and his wife, and everyone who made it possible. This is a wonderful event and I encourage everyone to participate. I promise I’ll raise at least $1,000 next year, if I have to donate it myself.

Also, thanks to Kim Pritt, Dan and Cheri Swanson, my childhood neighbor Mollie Walton Flatley and her husband, Brian, Jay Riley, Herald editor Billy Liggett and my family members – aunts Brenda and Jo, Uncle Ricky, cousin Brad, Debbie and my mama – all of whom really didn’t want me to get it shaved – for the donations.

Meet Lucie

For the past month, Beau and I have had a house guest in the form of the sweetest black dog ever. Her name is Lucie, and I have served as foster parent to her for Carolina Animal Rescue and Adoption. Around the first of June, Abbey from CARA called me wondering if Lucie could come stay with Beau and I in our backyard. Lucie is quite the athlete, full of energy, and was getting cramped up in the shelter. I jumped at the chance to have a guest for the summer for Beau, who had began to get restless in the backyard all day while I was at work — and began digging holes everywhere and tearing things, like my porch and garden, hose up.

Lucie looks to be about a year old and has been spayed. Her shot record is up-to-date and she has no health problems that I am aware of. She looks like an Blue Healer/German Sheppard/lab/border collie mix. But it don’t matter what she is. She’s very cute and loving, showing no signs of aggression whatsoever toward dogs or people. Abbey said she lived her first 9 months of life in a home with a family with kids. So she’s used to that. And she is housebroken from what I can tell.

She has been a pure joy this month. She is so much more loving and better behaved than Beau. I love my dog, but I wish he would act more like Lucie some time. Unlike Beau, when she fetches the frisbee, she brings it back and actually sits it down at your feet. She knows several commands and is well-behaved in the house as well — when Beau leaves her alone.

But she is too athletic to be cooped up in a backyard all day, and I don’t have the money to adopt her outright. She needs an owner who loves to run and be outside all day with her, or at least a big farm to run on by herself. If you are interested, contact me at owens@sanfordherald.com. I’d hate to see her go, but I would be happy if she found a home with people who love her. If not, she can just stay with us.

My first commercial

It started out as half-brained idea from my boss, Billy Liggett. But in the end, I think it came out beautifully. Look for this commercial on a public access channel near you soon!

Not really. Sorry, Conan.

I’m going bald…

for charity. As I stated on The Rant last month, I will donate my beautiful locks of hair to charity on July 11. Help me out by donating to this worthy cause or coming by to watch me cry.

To donate, click here

Where trouble melts like lemondrops…

It still isn’t fair.

This weekend has been one of the most bizarre and sad ones I’ve ever been through. If you’ll scroll down to my last post, you’ll know that my cousin, Kimberly, died on Tuesday after a car wreck while on her way to her capping ceremony for high school graduation. Just 18. Beautiful. Happy. It just wasn’t fair. It still isn’t.

On Friday, our family all gathered in Eden to pay our last respects. To say it was a sad day is an understatement. As I admitted earlier, I lost touch with Kimberly for a long time. After thinking about her all weekend, I can see I am going to regret that — much the same way I regret not making my grandpa teach me how to make pottery or saying thank you to my grandma for those countless pieces of barbecued chicken and chocolate gravy.

Kimberly’s life was obviously felt all over Eden, a town a little smaller than Sanford. The church was filled on Friday, as was a spillover room where the service was broadcast via closed-circuit TV. All her female classmates wore high heels to the service in her honor. Her mother, Robin, and father, Ricky, stayed strong throughout the day and showed a resolve I know I could never muster. There were even a few laughs along the way as people shared their favorite memories of her life.

The service was beautiful. Kimberly was in the choir at school, and the ensemble opened the service beautifully with “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” after which there was not a dry eye in the room. A perfect tribute.

Then at the graveside service, the most amazing thing happened. The preacher asked everyone to bow their heads for the final prayer of the day, and as I looked down, just before I shut my eyes, something caught my eye. It was a four-leaf clover. And it was the only clover in my immediate area, like it had been put there specifically for me to find.

It was eerie and comforting at the same time. I picked it, and after the service I took it up and placed it next to Kimberly (she had been cremated). My uncle told me later that they put it in the ground with her. I’m not really sure what finding it meant. Maybe Kimberly is looking out for us now?

So as a last tribute to Kim, here is my favorite version of that song. I love you Kim, and I wish I had been there for more of your life.

Isn’t she lovely?

My mother’s family are all very close to one another, and when tragedy strikes, it grips us all. And nothing could be more tragic than what happened over the past two days.

But let me back up a second. My cousin, Kimberly, was born on Christmas Day, 1990, to my uncle Ricky, who is the youngest of my mom’s eight siblings. My grandparents had nine kids, so inevitably that means a lot of grandchildren. Of about 30 grandkids, Kim was the second-to-last (only her brother, Jake, is younger. I was fourth to youngest) And as the younger kids are, usually, we were the favorites. I like to think, at least.

I can remember well when Kimberly was born. She was the first baby I ever held. We all used to go to the beach together on the Fourth of July, and I always remember everyone being very protective over her, because not long after she was born she had an intestinal problem that nearly took her life. Because she came so close to death, and because she was about the cutest little girl of all time, she held a special place in everyone’s hearts.

But she lived in Eden, N.C., north of Greensboro near Reidsville, so I didn’t really get to see her that much, especially in the last 5-10 years. She was always frozen in time in my mind as that little toddler.

The last time I saw Kim was at Christmas two years ago, and she was all grown up. It was great. Then a few months ago I got a friend request on Facebook from the incredibly beautiful girl, and was shocked when I read the name ‘Kim Shea Norris.’ Seriously, she could have been a model or an actress.

She had turned into a beautiful young woman that seemed ready to tackle the world after graduating from high school this month. But it was not meant to be. Kim and her brother were driving home from school Monday when she wrecked and was thrown from her car. She died early this morning. Her brother survived.

I honestly do not really understand why bad things happen to such good people. And it seems tragedies like this always happen right around this time of the year, around graduation. In 1999, just a few months before my graduation, two girls from my class (Hannah Seawell and Ashley LeGrande) died in a car wreck. A few years later two more died. Just recently a young girl in Pinehurst died.

Maybe our young people drive more in the summer months? Maybe the have more time on their hands? I don’t know, but it just doesn’t seem fair right now.

So be careful with your kids this summer. Hug ‘em and tell them you love them. Because you never know.

Oh the fun we could have…

So my terror of a dog, Beauregard, and I went to Martin Park, a 50-acre dog park in Pinehurst on Sunday, and he had a blast. There were so many dogs there, and he was surprisingly well-behaved. He didn’t jump on any strangers or tear up any trash cans. He got snapped at more than once because he was too playful for the older and smaller dogs, but all in all, he didn’t run away and he even made a girlfriend – a blonde, of course – a golden retriever-border collie mix named Abby.

Sanford needs a dog park. The nearest ones are at least 30 miles away from here, in Cary, Chapel Hill, Pinehurst and Fayetteville. A dog park would bring in people from all over, add to the quality of life for Sanford residents and add to the economy as well. Think about it, city council. Use some of that stimulus money on a dog park along one section of the greenway.

Here are some photos of Beau with his girlfriend.

Anyway, I think it may have been the best day of his life so far, because when we got home, he went to sleep at around 7 p.m. and I had to wake him up the next morning. He forgot all about it by Monday evening though.

The time is nigh

Last Thursday, Billy, Gordon, Lee County Emergency Management Director Eric Griffin and I went down to Carolina Trace for a nice round of golf. And, being just the second time I had played this year, let’s just say it was not pretty.

On 16 I ripped a drive that had to be one of my best ever. driving up to the ball, I looked up at the sky and said, “God, just let me finish this whole strong and salvage what little dignity I have left on this course.” Then I immediately thought, ‘you know, I probably shouldn’t be using up my prayers on something as meaningless as golf. There will more than likely be many more important times that I need divine intervention.’ So I looked back up and said, “God, nevermind. I’ll handle it. Go fix the economy or something important.”

God listened, because I promptly hit one of the worst shots of the day.

But today, I’m using that prayer. Why? Because the Heels are you one win away from the national championship. And I want it bad.

It’ll be a damn shame if Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington and the rest of this cast has to leave Chapel Hill without a title. Sure, they are the heavy favorites, but I must admit that I am less-than confident about a win. Michigan State is playing a home game against a team that destroyed them in the regular season. Tom Izzo is one of the best in-game coaches in college basketball, and the team has a huge chip on their shoulders because they feel they are playing for the entire state, ravaged by job losses from the auto industry’s woes.

But we can do this! I’ll update the blog throughout the day with thoughts on the game. I can usually tell when I wake up whether the Heels are going to have a cakewalk that night. I don’t feel like that today. Right now I think it is going to be a hard-fought game, but I am hopeful we can do it.

My prediction: North Carolina 79, Michigan State 73

Please God, help!