My Name is Earl

This month, Ricky and I headed down to Danville, VA to catch the AMA Superbike weekend races. The first highlight of the weekend was during our tour of the vendor booths on Friday. We came upon a booth selling T-Shirts for Second Chance Auto Sales in Owensboro, KY. I commented to Ricky that the used car dealership in question was owned by Nicky Hayden's father Earl. The man tending the booth turned around and there was Squirrel, aka Earl Hayden. I took the opportunity to speak with Earl about his boys. He told me that he had just spoken to Nicky in Brno (Czech Republic) and it had just rained at the upcoming MotoGP race. I thought this was very cool, and the proof is below:


I bought a shirt from Earl and he even autographed it.

The second highlight occurred during the pair of races on Saturday. Suzuki set up a hospitality tent between turns 4 & 5 and as a card-carrying 'Busa owner, Ricky was able to get us a couple of seats in the tent. We watched both the first Superbike Race and the Supersport Race out of the sun with free food. As an extra bonus, Rockstar was giving away cans of their energy drink all day. Let's just say that I drank a few of them and leave it at that.

The stunt show, which in recent years had been held out on the track, was performed in the parking lot with the fans right on top of the action. When you look at the photo album, you can see how close I was. What isn't shown in the pictures is that they were power sliding the bikes after each run right next to the fans. This was odd, but what really caught my attention was that no one seemed to care that a 600cc sportbike was coming to a stop 6 inches from them at each end of the coned area.

Vendor participation was lower than in years past, so we didn't go home with much more than T-shirts this year. I did spring for a new set of Michelin Power Pilots because the track price was almost half of what I was quoted back home. The next problem is how to get them on.

VIR - 2007 - Photo Album

In the News

Kellie is a little excited about a picture that ran in a local newspaper here yesterday. Take a look below:

Basketball Camp

Austin spent the last week in Basketball Camp. This is one of the many organizational activities we have planned for him this summer to help keep him occupied and outside the house.

Kellie Health Update

Since we last spoke in this forum about Kellie's ongoing headache problem, we were awaiting the delivery of her new glasses to determine if eye strain was a contributing factor. She did get the glasses, a red plastic design vice the zebra stripes she had picked out earlier, but as of yet, they have had no impact on the headaches, which continue at full strength.

We are trying to control them with painkillers, but this has had mixed results.

Cheering, Cheering, and possibly more Cheering

Last Saturday, Kellie exited her BDHS practice with news. During the practice, the BDHS cheer coach told her that she should try out for the BDHS competition team in August. This is in addition to the BDHS JV Team she is already on, and also in addition to the Cheer Dynasty squad she also belongs to.

Whether she tries out or not, Kellie was noticeably pleased that she had been noticed.

Lumbee Ring

For my birthday this year, Mom and Dad gave me the Lumbee ring. To date, whenever I have worn this, people have not failed to notice it, but I always field the same question: "What do the years signify?" The answer is that each of the four years on the face of the ring represent a significant event or milestone in the tribe's history.

1865	The beginning of Henry Berry Lowrie's rebellion against the death of his father and brother at the hands of the North Carolina Home Guard.
1887	The date of the establishment of the Croatan Normal School in Pembroke, NC. This teaching college has evolved into the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. This school was fundamental in bringing literacy to the tribe and allowing us to ducate both ourselves and our children.
1956	The Lumbee Act is passed by the US Congress. This act recognizes the Lumbee people as "The Lumbee Indians of North Carolina", but does not grant us full federal recognition. Efforts at full recognition continue to this day.
1958	The Lumbee make national news by confronting and dispersing a Ku Klux Klan rally in Maxton, N.C. This marks the end of the Klan's influence in Robeson County, NC.

The interested reader is encouraged to read more at:

Lumbee Tribe
Lumbee Wikipedia Page

Special recognition to Cyna's Jeweler's in Pembroke, NC. They are the designers and sole supplier of both the ring shown above and a wide selection of Lumbee jewelry. Take a look around. While you are there, take a look at this and see if you recognize the name of the designer. They also have their version of the ring history and they are the source of the ring image.

How old is the dishwasher?

Dishwashers may be older than you think, but not as old as Kellie would have you believe. Last week when Austin, Kara, and myself were in Pembroke for Lumbee Homecoming*, Tracy called me to inform me that something was wrong with the dishwasher. It turned out that the unit had washed its last dish and needed to be replaced. A new unit has been ordered and we are waiting its arrival later this week.

In the interim, we are washing the dishes by hand, which greatly amuses the kids since they have never really seen this done on a regular basis. When Kellie was told that until we get the new dishwasher installed all dishes would be washed in the sink, she responded with "You mean like they did in the 1600's?" Where did I go wrong?

*Tracy was unable to attend due to problems with the Sequoia. Something was wrong with the powertrain after she and the kids returned from the Outer Banks last week, and the car was in the shop. We were unable fit everyone, and this included the dogs, in the Passat, so she stayed home.

Kellie - Cheerleading Teams

Lost in the shuffle of the medical issues surrounding young Kellie is the fact that she tried out for her High School cheerleading squad and made the Junior Varsity team. You can view the announcement here.

She also moved up to a Senior Level 3 for her competition team, Cheer Dynasty. She has very busy schedule this summer as multiple practices each week are required for each team. Everything gets kicked up a notch later this summer when her Brentsville team is required to practice every day in August. This will include a sleepover cheer camp at the University of Virginia.

Just last practice, Kellie was removed from the JV squad to fill in for a missing girl on the Varsity team. After moving to Varsity, even if only for one day, Kellie's head would not fit through the door that evening. Her one and only goal this summer is to make the coaches regret her JV assignment and move her up. She has already been told that positions are not set in stone and changes may be made. I think the last practice proved that she is on the bubble and a good summer will see her move up.

I can't say that I would be thrilled for her to be on a team with Juniors and Seniors. Girls that old might not be the best influence for her, but let's just say that she disagrees. Tracy is quick to remind me that she already has Juniors on her JV squad. Seniors are not eligible for JV.

Her first days at school will be doubly easier now that she has older teammates and neighborhood friends to make the transition easier. You can tell that Kellie was very nervous about her first day in High School. She was strangely intimidated by the rising Seniors at the tryouts. I can tell that I am getting old because, to me, they are all babies.

Kellie - MRI Results

We received word today that Kellie's MRI came back clean as a whistle. There is no neurological cause for her persistent headaches. All signs are pointing to eye strain and we will have an answer for that within the week.

Jimmie Boone turns 70

On June 18, 1937, the man, the legend, Jimmie Boone passed into the light and thus began a trail of DNA that is held today by the Clark Clan kids. If we fast forward this extraordinary life forward until June 18, 2007 we arrive at the celebration of the hour, Mr Boone's birthday. On the Saturday before, the Clark Clan made the trek down to Calabash, NC for the big birthday celebration.

On hand were Jim and Jane Boone, Rodney and Jodi Dwyer, and a host of friends. Well over hundred souls were on hand for the party and to all appearances a good time was had by all. I'll try and update this short entry with more details later, but for now, please take a look at the pictures I took over the weekend.


Birthday Weekend Photo Album

Dawa gets married

On Saturday, June 9, 2007 Dawa married David Hitch in Asheville, NC. I hope to put more details of the event here especially since a whole gaggle of Clarks attended the auspicious event. For new, make sure you take a look at the photo album I made after collecting pictures from Dad and Ray.


Dawa's Wedding

Kellie - Medical Update

Since I last posted anything regarding Kellie's medical status, nothing much has changed. She feels no better and no worse than she has in the past three weeks. This past Sunday, we took her to an Optometrist to determine if eye strain was the cause of her constant headaches, but there was no clear answer there. We did discover that she is far sighted and that she is exhibiting a tightness around her iris that night contribute to the problem, but the eye doctor recommended that we proceed with our scheduled MRI to make sure nothing else is wrong. She was prescribed with corrective lenses and is scheduled to get those sometime this week. We would have liked to use Dr. Clark for all of this, but distance and urgency were an impediment. We are sending all of the optometric information to Charles for both a review and inclusion in his copy of her records. Fashion Update: Exhibiting her finely tuned sense of style, Kellie has decided upon a classic black frame with Zebra stripes on the inside.

Yesterday, we took her to the hospital and she had the MRI procedure done. I can't say I am surprised, but the results were not immediately available and we will not hear anything from our doctor for several days. I'll let everyone know the results when we get them.

Pleurodynia - Updated

Yesterday, I mentioned Kellie's trip to the ER and the diagnosis the doctors made regarding her viral infection. She called home today for Tracy to come get her because her headache was so severe. Again, Tracy took her to the ER for another examination. Based on my history, they gave her a CT Scan just to make sure that the problem was not severe. The good news is that there was nothing serious, but they did see something. We were told that she has a cluster headache. If you don't know what that is, please click the link and look it over. It was a new term to me. She was prescribed Cafergot, which appears to be a migraine medication. I am a little worried about the whole thing, but just a little. She appears to be functioning OK and if she has a headache as bad as she is describing it, you wouldn't know it by looking at her. I'll let everyone know more about this as the situation develops.

Kellie - 8th Grade Graduation

Lost in earlier posts about Kellie's ER visits was the fact that Kellie is about to Graduate 8th Grade. If you didn't know, her school is K-8 and she will begin High School next year. I was asked to be the official photographer of the 8th Grade Blowout. I saved a few pictures of Kellie getting her groove on.

The New Phase

Every once in a while, we are treated to the rare sight of a literal change in one's life. I was able to capture, on camera, an event that will change Austin's life forever.

Alyce has moved!

At the end of May, Alyce moved into her sparkling new retirement house in Delaware. Tracy, Austin, and myself moved the last load into her house before the furniture arrived. I don't have any pictures of the final furnished home, but this is what it looked like the day we were there (May 12, 2007).

This is the view from the living room. The front door is behind you, the patio with screened-in porch is to your right, and the guest and master bedrooms are down the hall. The door to the left behind Alyce leads to the laundry room and the garage. The hardwood floors are featured throughout the house.

The fireplace in the living room.

This is Pierre, the French Chef. Pierre has been a mainstay in Alyce's kitchen for some time now.

These last two pictures don't show you much of the house, but they do illustrate my stunning photography skills.

Austin's 2007 Spring Chorus Concert

This happened last month, but I am a busy guy. Here are several shots taken before, during and after the Chorus Concert. See if you can pick him out of the group photo.

The Old Girl

Pepper has been having a few problems lately, but before everything gets too bad, I thought I would put one shot out there for everyone to see. She will be turning 17 this fall, so she is older than most.

The Beach

In April, we went to the beach with our friends, Ron and Amanda. The first picture offers a clue as to where we went. It was only for 2-3 days, but at least I wasn't at work!

Taken on the Boardwalk.

We took a drive over to Assateague National Park to see the wild horses. While not as accessible when the weather is warmer,we did manage to see a few. Here Tracy and Kara are seen on the Western end of the Island.

Kara and the Old Man

Here is a picture of a wild horse that was feeding right next to the road as we were leaving.

We saw this deer next to the exit to the Federal portion of the Island.

Back at the house, Millie and I are in deep discussion about John Gribbin's "Science-A History". Millie thinks that Gribbin is somewhat effusive in his description of British Scientists. I would tend to agree.

Tracy running her toes through the sand.

Here is Tracy - about to get her ass kicked in Air Hockey.

This picture was not digitally altered in any way. No, I'm serious.

Here is Austin, mere seconds before we narrowly escaped a Velociraptor attack.

Pleurodynia

This is a new word for me, but we all learn something new each day. Last night, Tracy took Kellie to the ER because of continuing chest pains over the last 4-5 days accompanied by severe headaches. In the end, we learned that she had contracted Pleurodynia. This is being treated with Antibiotics.

The important thing is that she is all right and there is nothing serious to report. The one difference from the information that I linked to above is that her viral infection is in the heart wall vice the lungs indicated in the description. She is even back in school today.