.Corolla Wild Horse Tragedy.

So for as long as I can remember the Corolla Wild Horses have been apart of my life. My family has been involved with the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and when I was just a baby my family banded together and built a beach house down at the very end of Corova beach, just feet from the Virginia border. I have so many wonderful memories from that house and that beach. Of course now, just like every other part of the Outer Banks, Corova beach is slowing being built up by monstrosities houses.

When I would visit our beach house, nicknamed "The Hut" I would love waking up to the crazy rooster next door that did not just crow at dawn but ALL day long and then looking out the window and/or front door and seeing a horse or two. One summer, my grandfather was cutting the grass and felt a nudge/tap on his shoulder and assumed it was my grandmother and was astonished to turn around and see a wild horse standing there just saying Hey! These animals are amazing to me and as most of you may know I am not that big of a fan of horses anyways because they always tend to buck me off but for some reason these horses do not scare me at all. Anytime they see a camera it's like they stop what they are doing and pose so that you can get that perfect shot. There has never been a report of any Corolla Wild Horse attacking or harming any human or their property and so it brings me to the question, why would a human harm them?

The Corolla Wild Horses are not only endangered but are a treasured icon of the Corolla area of the Outer Banks. This Memorial Day Weekend some rich, prick asshole staying in Corova killed a beautiful stallion who went by the name Spec. He was featured in many of the posters and brochures for the Wild Horses. Sadly the asshole who killed this horse did not even have the guts to finish what they started. They hit his left hind leg and it was reported that it was hit with such force that it was snapped completely in two and the horse was euthanized at 2:30 p.m. on May 23rd. There were ATV tracks all around where the horse was originally seen on the beach at 6:43 a.m. It is possible that ATV’s were being used to chase the horse and then hit him. Residents reported hearing ATV’s tearing around at 1 and 2 a.m. With this information I can conclude that the people who hit this innocent creature were most likely WASTED and that is no excuse. I just can not fathom causing harm to any animal let alone hurting and then leaving it to suffer and die. This AMAZING horse drug himself up over the dunes over a mile from where he was first seen. I have no words to describe what the last few hours were like for Spec. He did not want to die and he fought and struggled long and hard, poor boy he must have been terrified! Back in 2007 someone shot one of the wild horses and there have been many, many other shootings and the shooter has never been found. Then in April of this year there was yet another hit and run where the horse was left to suffer. When the horse was found he was literally shaking from the effort of holding himself up...he knew if he went down he wouldn't be able to get back up again This is completely uncalled for. No animal should suffer needlessly.

FYI: Spec is the horse that is in the center of this picture.

If you have any information about these tragedies, there is a town meeting at the Corolla Firehouse at 5:30 PM today. Please CLICK HERE to join the fight in saving and protecting these beautiful creatures and if you are regular blogger, CLICK HERE to follow the Corolla Wild Horse Fund's blog.

.....FYI, I have been crying the whole time writing this not only cause I find this story so upsetting and repulsing but I am so pissed that some stupid tourist would do something so cruel. And then people wonder why the locals hate them so much when they come here...

.And In Local News.

By now all my readers know of Quinn's trip to Louisville and all that good stuff. When he got home a few weeks ago he asked me to write him a news article to submit to some local papers and surprise, surprise it got published in the Outer Banks Sentinel. Unfortunately, the article says that Quinn is the one that wrote it, but I wrote that article and I am very proud of myself so you should go and read it ;).

UPDATE: March 15, 2008....Check out your local Coastland Times cause my article made it in there, too! Yay go me and my wonderful writing skiiillllssss! hah :)

.Dog Fighting.

Everyone is giving poor little pit bulls bad raps these days and it's beginning to really aggravate me. First you have the lady whose two pit bulls killed the neighbors lab and had to be put down and now this! Like I do everyday at noon, I was watching the news today and heard a rather disturbing story right out of Gates County. Officials say that dogfighting is a growing problem in this area and they are doing everything they can to stop it! It's just too close to home.

The Gates County Sheriff found two dead dogs and four alive, but malnourished. These animals were being kept in small cages and were tied to heavy chains. They also seized 13 dogs under court order yesterday morning. Eleven pit bulls and two rottweilers, but the owner...no where to be found. A 15 pound chain was found on a 25 pound dog. The chain is used to make the dog's muscles stronger. To make matters worse the officers seized bottles of dog vitamins and steroids. Among other disturbing things confiscated from the crime scene include a goat horn that was used to pry open the locked jaws of two dogs and appears red due to dried blood also a wooden treadmill where the dogs would be placed with a dangling animal carcass in front of them and the dog would run on the mill to catch thus making them stronger and faster.

This morning the owner finally turned himself in and faces one felony count of Dogfighting, 13 misdemeanor counts of Animal Cruelty and three counts of Not Properly Disposing of Animal Carcases. When asked about the evidence found on his property he said he knew nothing about it! His bond is set $16,500, so I am pretty sure he is not going anywhere anytime soon, but STILL! Now let me explain to you the animal carcases part of his charges because this is the part the really pissed me off. This jackass had three burnt dog carcases in a bag that they found on his property that investigators are saying appears that the dogs who did not survive the fights were doused in gasoline and burnt!!!! Are you kidding me!?! How can you do that and sleep at night!?

The seized dogs are being kept at the Chowan County animal shelter and sadly many have scars, appear weak from malnutrition, and one appears to have a broken leg. Four of the dogs that were seized were considered aggressive and had to be euthanized. :(

Don't Be Trashy, RECYCLE!

Growing up in Southern Shores (and all the northern beaches) we had two cans that went to the end of the drive way for trash pickup. One was for trash and the other for recycling and it seemed that pretty much the whole neighborhood recycled. Recycling had free pick up, too.

Now that I live in Kill Devil Hills, which has got to be the most densely populated by locals town on the Outer Banks, I have noticed that no one recycles. I just don’t understand why Kill Devil Hills cant recycle, let alone the whole County too. I mean in my house alone, the amount of cans and bottles we go through weekly is pretty large. Not only is Kill Devil Hills heavily populated with locals but it also has a great number of rental properties and as we all know the tourist come down here and party, thus resulting in even more cans and bottles that could be recycled.

Now apparently in Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head you can purchase recycling services for a fee of $7.45 for weekly pickup. Outer Banks Hauling has been picked to pick up the recycling based on the guaranteed of the low cost for three years and their willingness to tailor the program to local need. This is a wonderful way to get into the recycling program, but I just don't understand why we have to pay and Southern Shores does not. (There is also another company out there willing to pick up recyclables in Dare County, but you have to contact them for an exact quote on pick-up pricing)

So now the issue is getting every household including locals and tourists, not only in Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head but across Dare County, to sign up for the recycling program and we could really make a difference. This system could work out very well and should cause little, if any, hardships for the citizens. Not to mention that Dare County as a whole does a lot of construction and demolition all of which use recyclable materials. The majority of beach goers are drinking plastic bottled water or juices, canned soda or beer, and glass bottled sodas and beer, thus if every beach access had a recycling bin that right there is a huge difference in how much we waste as a community.

The Outer Banks is supposed to be this nice beach retreat and as a community we work hard year round to keep the beach clean and make sure that our Island stays beautiful for generations to come. But seeing that we are such a large vacation destination for a vast variety of individuals shouldn’t we want to make a large impression and start “Going Green.” The Brewing Station, for instance, is setting quite the example by being Americas First Wind Powered Brewpub with their 10KW Wind Turbine. And to be honest with you, that Wind Turbine has really gotten the Tourist a buzzing and we know they will go back to their hometowns and brag that they ate at the only wind powered pub in America. It may sound corny but if they get as excited as they do over a Brew-Thru then imagine their reaction to a “Green” restaurant on the OBX. ;)

I just wish the Outer Banks would want to be more of a trend setter and start "Going Green". recylcing is just one small step towards achieving that and we need everyone to pitch in. The sad thing is that most of Dare Counties residents are too lazy or too drunk to recycle (haha). So get up off your lazy asses people and cough up that $7.45/month and start recycling :)

SO over it

Ok, I know I am not the only one who is over this hot, sticky and extremely smokey days. They suck and if the smoke is this bad on the Banks, I can only imagine how bad and annoying it must be out in Tyrrell, Hyde and Washington. I mean poor Quinn has been working in Manteo since the fires began and his asthma is acting up like crazy. I feel bad for all of my family over in Manteo, Wanchese and Englehard because the smoke inhalation is giving me a serious headache and scratchy eyes so I can only imagine how they must be feeling. I was really hoping that the torentual downfall that came on Monday afternoon would at least help these fires, but it doesn't appear to have done a dern thing. Oh and if you didn't know our air quality here in Eastern North Carolina is so bad that they had to make a new color of the code chart.

And you know what else is annoying, We, in North Carolina, have two - count that, TWO- raging wildfires (the Evans Road and the Great Dismal Swamp) and neither one of them have made it to national headlines but God forbid precious California catch on fire and every major news station is not only reporting on the fire but they are on location for an up-to-the-date report. What? Are these news anchors scared to come down to "Hickville" North Carolina? Cause that is really the only excuse I can think of for not informing the American people of what's going on in their country. I guess this is just another example of how the news and journalist don't always give the full story ;)

Me and My Crazy Dreams....again

So, I am always having some weird dream but last night I had a dream that was so real to me. I woke up covered in sweat and tears. I dreamt that one of my very good guy friends died in a horrible car crash and then at the funeral, he popped up out of the casket. I know, it sounds so weird. Then, today as I was leaving LaFogata I passed him coming in and the biggest sigh of relief came over me, but I still have this nervous knot in my stomach like something bad is going to happen. I know dreams always mean things and are full of symbolism so I am really wondering what this is suppose to mean. All I do know is it is really creeping me out.


Oh and while I was at LaFogata, this nice little thunderstorm rolled through (which is making me feel like the worst parent ever because Keller is outside and I feel so bad for him, he's all wet and its thundering..:( )and across the way on the Sound in Kitty Hawk you could see this massive waterspout and the whole restaurant flocks to the windows to check it out. I couldn't help but laugh at the tourist that were getting creeped out thinking it was a tornado. It was getting bigger and bigger and then as soon as hit the land you could watch it just diminish, it was really pretty and entertaining to see them all freak out. HAHA. I can not wait to go home and get my little buddy out of the rain but at least now I don't have to give him a bath ;).


Other than the above-mentioned, today has been a great day. I found out that one of my best friends, Allison (aka my TWIN) and her husband, Ryan are expecting their first child. YAY!!!!! Congrats to them.


PS: If you are a summer reader like me, I have already finished two books this summer that I highly recommend. If you are looking for a good laugh "Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea" by the hilarious Chelsea Handler is a great beach book. And, if you are more of a suspense reader, "The Quickie" by James Patterson is a "can't put it down" read. I am getting ready to start reading "Sail" by James Patterson, so check back for a review of that in a few weeks :)

Me and My Crazy Dreams....again

So, I am always having some weird dream but last night I had a dream that was so real to me. I woke up covered in sweat and tears. I dreamt that one of my very good guy friends died in a horrible car crash and then at the funeral, he popped up out of the casket. I know, it sounds so weird. Then, today as I was leaving LaFogata I passed him coming in and the biggest sigh of relief came over me, but I still have this nervous knot in my stomach like something bad is going to happen. I know dreams always mean things and are full of symbolism so I am really wondering what this is suppose to mean. All I do know is it is really creeping me out.

Oh and while I was at LaFogata, this nice little thunderstorm rolled through (which is making me feel like the worst parent ever because Keller is outside and I feel so bad for him, he's all wet and its thundering..:( )and across the way on the Sound in Kitty Hawk you could see this massive waterspout and the whole restaurant flocks to the windows to check it out. I couldn't help but laugh at the tourist that were getting creeped out thinking it was a tornado. It was getting bigger and bigger and then as soon as hit the land you could watch it just diminish, it was really pretty and entertaining to see them all freak out. HAHA. I can not wait to go home and get my little buddy out of the rain but at least now I don't have to give him a bath ;).

Other than the above-mentioned, today has been a great day. I found out that one of my best friends, Allison (aka my TWIN) and her husband, Ryan are expecting their first child. YAY!!!!! Congrats to them.

PS: If you are a summer reader like me, I have already finished two books this summer that I highly recommend. If you are looking for a good laugh "Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea" by the hilarious Chelsea Handler is a great beach book. And, if you are more of a suspense reader, "The Quickie" by James Patterson is a "can't put it down" read. I am getting ready to start reading "Sail" by James Patterson, so check back for a review of that in a few weeks :)

Wildfire Part II

This fire is getting so out of control. If you are not a resident of the area, consider yourself lucky. The smoke paired with the disgustingly humid heatwave that just moved through the area has made life outside completely dreadful. Poor Quinn has been working in Manteo in this nasty heat with such heavy dense smoke that a "gas mask" type device was necessary to proficiently work. Not to mention, that the other day it was "snowing" ash across the Outer Banks which is quite aways away from the actual fire. Even residents as far as Wakefield, Virginia, which is more than 80 miles away can smell the smoke. The National Weather Service issued a dense smoke advisory for the coastal plain and as far west as Vance and Granville counties in the northeast Piedmont. As of today the fire has grown to 40,195 acres, or about 63 square miles and is still growing with every second near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Last nights slight rain shower barely helped douse the raging flames.

These links are updated regularly with constants stats of the fire if you would like to check them out. This fire is damaging peoples farms and homes and recovering from this. Please keep the people of Eastern North Carolina in your prayers.

Wildfire

For all you hermit crabs, people who just woke up, haven't been outside and/or don't read the news, it smells like a giant ass bonfire out there, ya'll. There is a giant marsh/wild fire in Washington and Hyde counties that has burned over 10,000acres. They have already evacuated a neighborhood consisting of 40 homes in Washington County. And now, because of the wind, the smoke has become very heavy on the northern beaches so needless to say work in Duck should be interesting tonight with all these dumbass tourists. ;)

This morning the weather was telling me a clear pretty day but it looked so overcast from bed, but once i stepped outside I smelt and saw it. Once I got to work (next to the Currituck bridge) it was so "foggy". I didn't know what was going on until I listened to the radio and heard a statement that smoke was blowing into coastal areas, and urged residents and people visiting the Outer Banks to stay inside if they have trouble breathing. We need rain, BAD and unfortunately it doesn't look like we have any in the forecast. It looks hot and dry. Scary this is just right down the road. Please keep the families of Hyde and Washington in mind throughout this time.

Hypocrites = OBX!

What is wrong with people on this beach? You have these of people who look down their white trash noses at people for doing doing Cocaine but given a few years those same people are out there snorting shit up their own white trash noses. I just think it is kind of funny, don't you. It's Amy Winehouse saying "I don't want to go to rehab, no, no no" and then a couple months later that where she is. And then there are those are this beach that proclaim to be your friend, but as soon as you turn your back and see a chance to fuck you over, they sure as hell slam that knife into your back and twist it. But, if you are going to proclaim yourself a "good girl" or a "good friend" then why don't you stick with that. Don't waste someones time and energy into a friendship only to fuck them over in the end.

Let me go on and fill you in that I have, on more than one occasion, had a "friend" sleep with my boyfriend behind my back and/or steal my boyfriend/sleep-over buddy right from underneath me. Girls on this beach are shystee.
In High School there were these girls, and they know who they are, who were friends with a friend of mine and boy did they love to run their mouth all up and down this island about me. Now looking back, I am pretty sure they must have been jealous of how much fun I was having because now they have their white trash noses all up in the cocaine train. How pathetic that they felt so, I don't know, maybe JEALOUS of the good time me and my friends were having back in the day that they had to attempt to sabotage my reputation only to turn around and do the same exact thing a couple years later. I mean, if you wanted to join in the fun back in the day, all you had to do was ask ;)

The other annoying point is the immaturity people have with relationships these days. Yes, a friend of yours has no business going near a guy you have been with without being sitting their "friend" down and being straight up about the situation. When you go behind a friends back and lie about things it just makes it so much worse.It is just a respect thing. I mean I have had two of my "friends" think that it is ok to date/hook-up with my boyfriend and/or fuck buddy. I would not have given my consent but I would have appreciated the common courtesy of asking what I thought about the situation instead of having shit go on behind my back. Seems more and more people on this beach are going for their friends either boyfriends or ex-boyfriends and I mean, I know it is a small beach and all but common courtesy goes a long way, FYI!

But that's their problem, you as the "injured party" need to be the bigger person and just let it go. When you let the new couple see that you don't give two shits that they are together things got a lot smoother. But, when you give them the satisfaction of egging on a feud, you are just letting them win. It is time that people grow up and let shit go. Life is too short to be feuding over an ex and a piece of shit friend that you are better off without. (But also the female party of the new couple also needs to let shit go too if you are going to, it has to go both ways. You can't be flicking each other off and starting

Speaking of common courtesy, that means squashing the beef once you have decided to go so low as to not finding your own significant other, but rather just jackin me from your friends leftover bin. It is not your friends fault that you can not get someone on your own, you do not have to be so low as to flick them off when you see them on the road or starting myspace/facebook/text messaging wars.It is time to grow up people. Life is way to short to be hatin' so much.

Take for exampe the whole me and heather thing. When she first started openly dating Chris I not only wanted to slit her tires, but her throat. I held that grudge for years till I finally realized, what the hell is the point? I'm happy, and if she is really happy with crazy Chris, then good for her dude. All Is Dropped.

I hope those who read this will just learn to let shit go, its good for the soul man. Less stress equals less wrinkles and breakouts and grey hairs. Think about it ladies.
Peace out. :)

Disaster Over Yonder

As you may know (if you know me as well as you should ;)) I am a huge fan of storms. My whole life I always thought it would be so cool to be a storm chaser. I still believe that would be the coolest thing to do but its not very realistic.

Anyways, on Monday as I was pulling into work 94.5 started doing that severe weather alert buzzer noise thing. I was actually stoked when they said we were under a Tornado Watch. "Hell yeah," I thought. As long as no one gets hurt or no major damage is done I think tornadoes and hurricanes are beautiful, I know I am a little weird, ok. All night at work I was glued to The Weather Channel but I became quite distraught to learn that there had been some funnels sited near the border and then to learn that a couple hours later Suffolk, VA was hit and filed under a
The Tornado that hit was not a "cool" one in my book. It was catagorized as a F-3 which is pretty rare in Virginia on the and injured about 200 people but thankfully there were no fatalities. The city has been flattened pretty much. It is going to be a long while before the residents of Suffolk are able to rebuild their lives. I know it's been a couple days and you are probably wondering why I am blogging about this, but these people still need help repairing their city and their lives. And please note that the human citizens of the city were not the only ones effected by this, family pets and local wildlife need your help to. Animals were left behind at their homes as their families evacuated. Pets not only need homes, but they need food and some even surgeries. For information on how to help stranded wildlife, please visit the Wildlife SPCA. If you are able to help in any way with cleaning up or rebuilding then please volunteer your time or donate some money at The Salvation Army or Other Relief Organizations.

P.S. If you are a fellow OBX-er reading this, then you should definitely want to help because you know that if the situation was reversed and it was us that got hit, all the lovely Virginians would be doing everything they could to help us and our wildlife. :)

Annoyances of a Local

"Oh my gosh, you actually live here."

"I didn't know people actually lived here."

"You must have had an awesome time growing up."

These are just a few of the reactions I get daily from the idiot tourists who come on vacation to the Outer Banks. I mean, are you kidding me? Every time someone makes an asinine comment like the examples shown above, I just want to slap them.

Of course people live on the Outer Banks. How else would all the businesses get run? What do they think that at the end of summer we pull down a big barrier that blocks off the Island and everyone vacates for the winter and then when summer comes we open the Island back up like a theme park or something? Common sense people, it will get you a long way.

While at work the other night I was waiting on some people visiting from up north (PA I think) and they were saying how the locals are bad drivers, my guess is that they did not have much room to be speaking. I asked why they thought that and they told me about "the horrible road rage"and the countless times they had cars "ride their ass". WELL DUH! I told them. You have got to go the speed limit. Seems so simple doesn't it? For some reason when people cross over the bridge(s) on to the Island they seem to think that 50 MPH means 45 MPH and that there are no such things as turning signals and turning lanes. If I see one more person stop in the left hand lane and wait to turn, thus holding up traffic, rather than just scooting over into the designated lane for turning, I am just going to slam into the back of them!!! (haha ok, no I wouldn't really do that).
I am sorry but when I go on vacation somewhere, I have a little bit more respect for the locals. I drive the speed limit, not my brakes, and if I am looking for something and drive past it, I don't slam on breaks and cause a huge scene, I just simply go to the next turn or stop light and turn around and go back. Why is it that people who visit the Outer Banks can't have the same courtesy? I hate when I am running late or in a hurry to get from one end of the beach to the other and it takes me two hours (which I can normally do in about 45 min.) because people can't drive.

So if you are a past, present or future visitor of the Outer Banks, just take this post as a friendly reminder to act like a normal person and not an asshole while on vacation.

P.S. Tips are greatly appreciated ;). If you can afford to go on vacation and go out to eat then you can afford to tip. Thank you!