Wednesday, February 28, 2001
|
Wednesday, February 28, 2001 |
| Loose
ends By
SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE Today permit me to sweep up a few loose ends and stir them into a column. ... If you've been outside for even a minute lately, you've had to notice that the birds think spring is coming, no matter what the weather forecast. Cardinals especially are piping up, and red-winged blackbirds are "chunkaree-ing" in their old neighborhoods. 'Tis the season for Carolina wrens to begin the frenetic nest-building that heralds the laying of their first clutch of eggs. It's all part of the cycle; they can fill a box or an old shoe or a misplaced hat with a litter of straw in hours, then suddenly go elsewhere and build their "real" nest, a sphere lined in moss and cat fur. Dave had the heart-breaking task to pull such a structure, nearly finished, out from behind the engine of the boat, while both birds screamed their outrage from a nearby branch. It was a question of the lesser evil: to destroy the nest while it was empty or to haul it away next week, possibly containing eggs, when he takes the trawler down to Lake Walter F. George for his spring cruise. A word of caution: Don't leave your garage door up for a minute longer than it takes you to come and go, unless you're willing to leave it open for several weeks. Mr. and Ms. Wren will find a spot behind a paint can and lay their eggs before you know it, and if you close the door on them unawares, you can doom the entire family. And it's not too early. We usually see the first fledging by the end of March, which means the process began about six weeks earlier. Keep your cat in the house too, as you should always. A U.S. Fish & Wildlife release says that the number of birds killed by cat predation is in the hundreds of millions annually. The rationale that cats killing birds or destroying nestlings is "part of nature's plan" is absolutely erroneous. Cats were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians and introduced to North America in the 1800s to control rats. They are not natural predators and have never been in the natural food chain in the Western hemisphere.
It's gratifying to learn that something I've published has struck a responsive chord in my readers. Many of you have told me you appreciated the letter Greg Bligh wrote to his grandmother, telling her how much her old dining room table means to him. He wrote to thank us, and said that reading it "reminded me that I needed to put in for vacation in June. For three decades, my great-grandmother's (my grandmother's mother) entire family tree meets at the country home of one of my mother's cousins near Lancaster, Pa. during the last weekend in June. It's a circus of 80-plus relatives and amazingly, everyone gets along. "My life has become so hectic that this is the only time I ever get to see my grandmother; yet I cannot wait to see her face, a face that is permanently etched in my mind, hear her lyrical style of talking, her girlish laugh, and just spend quality time with a woman who never had money but never lacked class, faith, or friends. "Life in Peachtree City and Atlanta can sometimes make a person's edges jagged. Re-reading my letter smoothed my edges a little, and made me rethink the things I value." Sandy Thomas also wrote and said Greg's letter brought tears to her eyes because her son Eric feels exactly the same way about his grandparents' old kitchen table and chairs. "Once I mentioned to him that he could pass the table and chairs on to one of his sisters when he and JoVonne wanted to replace it with something better. He got real emotional and said that he had so many memories of grandma and grandpa, and eating and playing games at that table, that he wanted to always keep it. What better reward can a parent have than that!"
Not every column provokes such positive reactions. Betsy Dodds moved back to Peachtree City recently after a number of years living in Montana, during which time her husband died. She called to say how pleased she was to open the paper and see a columnist she remembered from years ago and considers an old friend. She sat down to read that day's column over breakfast, a pair of perfectly timed eggs and promptly gave them to her cats, undone by my mention of the fat that eggs contain, and what fat can do to human arteries. Thank goodness cats metabolize fat differently from humans.
And Marilynn Sowell thanked me for pointing out that drinking water before and between meals helps dieters by making them feel full. She says she's lost several pounds in just a few weeks. Good for her. We thought we were doing pretty well in our efforts to shed a few ourselves. Bought a new bathroom scale some weeks ago and felt very pleased that exercise, low fat, and more energetic walking seemed to be paying off. Until, that is, Dave checked the new scale against the doctor's scale when he went for a blood test this morning. The full five-pound difference between the two was exactly the amount we both were bragging about losing. |
