This week we’re going to meander through the stuff cluttering my brain, and we’ll start with the 100-plus comments on my last column and Facebook post regarding a voicemail my son had left on my phone.
He would only say he had a “little problem” that would be best discussed “talk to talk,” not on the phone, and that I shouldn’t worry despite the microwave beeping ominously in the background.
I invited readers to guess what it was he had done and I would pick my favorite and give the person a $10 gift card to Starbucks. While it turned out he had only cut his finger on a can, the guesses were more creative.
“He decided to save you some money and cut his own hair, and accidentally shaved one side completely bald,” guessed Sabrina Trumbell.
“He found out the adoption rumors weren't true,” joked Peg St. John.
But the winner was from Vickie Thomason Kesler. Kesler offered up multiple guesses, including, “He shot a deer? He cut himself shaving? He kissed a girl and liked it?”
I would’ve loved the first one, he’s already done the second, and we’re a year or so away from the third (I hope). Congratulations, Vickie!
• Twice in the last week the opportunity has arisen to talk about the one-of-a-kind 4-headed palm tree at Oaks by the Bay Park in Panama City. If you haven’t seen this, you ought to make a stop at the quiet park nestled at the bottom of Beck Avenue on St. Andrews Bay.
When I first wrote about it, many, many years ago, it was on the grounds of Panama City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it has sprung from seed. Theories abound on how it came to have four palm heads, some say it was repeatedly run over with a lawnmower as a sprout while others opine it has something to do with the nearby chemicals.
Regardless, it is the only 4-headed palm tree in the entire world at last check, and is a star among palm enthusiasts. It has taken some special care over the years – like supports for its four different palm heads - and the city ultimately moved it to its current location so everyone could enjoy it.
• Ran across a waitress at Bayou Bill’s Crab House, 23100 Front Beach Road, a while back and it’s remained on my mind because it not only was the best service and crab legs I’d had in some time, but she appeared perfectly normal and smart with the exception of a piercing through her neck. I hadn’t seen that before. She assured me it wasn’t too painful when it went in and that it does elicit lots of questions. The only real issue, she said, was getting through airport security when it had just been put in and couldn’t be taken out. “It almost got weird,” she said.
• A near child-related disaster was averted recently with a trip to the original Alvin’s Island, 12010 Front Beach Road, and the one that used to house a witch and still has live alligators, on a rainy Sunday morning. Twenty years ago the store would’ve been closed in the winter, but these days it’s open year round.
That was a good thing when one of my son’s Christmas gifts – a genuine 12-inch-long alligator head – was eaten by the family dog in his absence. I was relieved to find a replacement head at Alvin’s, along with an “I visited Panama City Beach” T-shirt.
The clerk offered this up, as I was a little embarrassed as a local to be buying a tourist shirt: “Don’t be,” she said. “You’d be surprised how many locals shop here. They want to walk around looking sloppy like they’re on vacation, so they dress up like tourists and no one notices.”
• A former co-worker and friend of mine, Sharon Michalik, once a champion couch potato, told me she signed up for a 150-mile bike ride in Texas to raise money for multiple sclerosis. Embarrassingly, she said, her husband is out-fundraising her and is soliciting donations from friends. I have neither the inclination to bicycle 150 miles nor the wallet to contribute, but if you’re interested go to http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/smichalik and you can help a good cause.