After a long lay off since the Super Bowl last winter, football returns this week, at least for high schools. This is the moment before dreams are slapped with reality. Everybody’s undefeated until Friday night at 10 p.m. By then, half the teams in North Carolina can forget their hopes of an undefeated season. The other half can continue to dream.

In the newspaper’s annual football issue this week, all the uniforms are bright and clean. On Friday night, there may be plenty of mud if the rains continue.

This is promising to be an exciting season for the Philadelphia Eagles when the NFL season begins. Newly acquired quarterback Sam Bradford will take the helm. Already a fan is petitioning Pope Francis to bless Bradford’s knees when the pope visits next month. Bradford has suffered two previous ACL tears and had shoulder problems when he was at the University of Oklahoma.

Another familiar name, Tim Tebow, is seeking to land the third place quarterback spot for the Eagles. After struggling to find playing time at his previous stop with the New York Jets, the very popular Tebow has received a warm welcome in Philadelphia.

Tebow could easily move up to the second spot and find himself starting if the Pope doesn’t heed the petitions to bless Bradford’s knees.

Ice Hockey Registration

Elizabeth and I are eager to learn about a new sport this winter. Grandson Sam, 4, is registered for the beginner league ice hockey team in Decatur, Ill.

We, of course, know nothing about ice hockey. Neither does Sam, but it looks like fun and the puffy uniforms are glorious. We’ll be going north this fall for a match.

We did not, however, join the hordes of people watching soccer on the Yadkin River in Bermuda Run over the weekend. Perhaps we were the only ones without relatives playing soccer.

Based on my view from atop the river bridge, parents must have been sweltering in the 90-degree sunshine as their darlings kicked the ball.

Sanity Prevails On Farm

In the end, sanity prevailed. A young Davie County farm couple will be able to continue a new-generation green method of recycling food waste into an organic soil amendment even though they neighbor the Davie County High School under construction on Farmington Road.

The Davie County Zoning Board of Adjustment certified Peter Gallins’ operation as a “bona-fide farm.” The board ordered that a letter be sent to the N.C. Department of Energy and Natural Resources to certify that the Gallins farm is in compliance with county regulations.

Adjustments board chairman Mike Branham said the county should encourage such businesses, not “weave a web” of problems for young entrepreneurs. Indeed, the recent history of Davie County government has been to welcome and encourage business with open arms, from corporate giants such as Ashley Furniture and Gildan to small businesses and farms such as Peter Gallins.

Gallins would have been forced to close if the county had imposed expensive guidelines to shield the school from the farm’s natural odors. The school picked to build beside farm property. The school will have a far greater impact on the Gallins family than the farm will have on the new school when it is finished.

— Dwight Sparks