Newspaper Page Text
TA/i&i ‘Lhds Qb&mted
Nature Shop
► BIRD FOOD
► FEEDERS
► GARDEN
ACCENTS
► UNIQUE GIFTS
Wild Birds Unlimited- Vinings
Near Aker’s Mill Rd. 2980 Cobb Pkwy
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-433-2676 | www.wbu.com/vinings
$9 OFF |
$45* i
y LIFE CARE CENTER OF AMERICA
Our patient residents enjoy a friendly environment, dedicated staff, comfortable surroundings
and individualized care that promotes maximum independence. Our skilled nursing facilities also
provide residents with inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation in all three therapy disciplines -
occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy.
Life Care Center of Gwinnett Life Care Center of Lawrenceville
3850 Safehaven Drive | Lawrenceville, GA 30044 210 Collins Industrial Way | Lawrenceville, GA 30043
770-923-0005 678-442-0777
on Wednesdays at Finders
Keepers Fashions, Boutique
and Menswear locations.
Locally owned 32 years
100’S OF ITEMS ADDED DAILY
Brands you like at prices you ll LOVE
Save Money, Make Money,
Shoo Smart
c
DERS'KEEPERS
1
CONSIGNMENTS
FASHIONS • BOUTIQUE • MENSWEAR • FURNISHINGS
Seniors receive
OFF
*Must be 55+. Discount does
not apply to furniture.
fiYIill'hT
www.fkconsign .com
JUNE 2017
ATLANTASENIORLIFE.COM
PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
BIRDFEEDER BATTLES
I have a bit of a summertime routine. Each
morning, as the humidity ripens and before it
becomes oppressive, I go outside to my deck,
drink a cup of coffee, wait for the internet to
connect, drink a cup of coffee, wait for my
email to update, drink a cup of coffee, try to
think of something to write, drink another cup
of coffee, and thus ease into my day, all the
while serenaded by a cacophony of tweets and
trills from the backyard birds in my backyard
aviary and distracted by their flights of color.
They charm me.
I had outwitted the squirrels and chipmunks
that used to shimmy over the hanging rod and
squeeze inside the feeder; I had changed the
feeder and the seed, and those pesky varmints
were dining elsewhere. Since then, birds have
gathered at my feeder like commuters at a
Starbucks. I have been getting house finches
and goldfinches, chickadees and towhees. Sometimes I even get
bluebirds and, as we all know, bluebirds are special. Their indigo blue
and cherry red colors punctuated in white and black inspire me to
think of them as God’s rainbow, sent to me in the form of a winged
creature—a fluttering promise that everything will be okay.
The birds were happy, I was happy, life was grand. And then...and
then everything went terribly wrong.
I dashed to the wild bird store and started to explain:
“I was getting all kinds of songbirds—finches and cardinals, and
even bluebirds, and then...”
“....and then the grackles came.” He finished the sentence for me,
and I could hear ominous music swell up in the background.
If you have a birdfeeder, you know about grackles. If you don’t, I will
tell you: They are large, beady-eyed, sinister looking birds the color of
old oil that travel in swarms and look as if, at any
minute, they will perch on my deck railings
Robin’s Nest
Robin Conte is a writer
and mother of four
who lives in Dunwoody.
She can be contacted at
robinjm@earthlink.net.
and start cackling, “Nevermore.”
I don’t like them one bit.
Not only do they creep the
daylights out of me, but they
frighten away my pretty birds
and devour my birdseed faster
than it takes to say “Poe.” Plus,
they make a mess and they
don’t clean up after themselves,
so they’re kind of like flying
teenagers.
I wanted God’s winged rainbows
back, not God’s winged delinquents.
|3 FACEBOOK.COM/ATLANTASENIORLIFE