SUNFLOWER SEEDS enable the cardinal to sing.
PHOTO BY BILL FAVER
Cardinals Sing A Sunflower Song
BY BILL FAVER
Loren Eiseley writes of sunflower seeds and cardi
nals in one of his poems in The
Innocent Assassins. His keen sense
of history and science combine
with his gifts of deep understand
ing and caring to give us glimpses
of relationships we might never
grasp on our own.
He writes: "When the red cardi
nal comes to the window ledge, I
feed him sunflower seed that's
brought from places that I know
and he will never see. ..The cardinal
lifts his crest and recognizes seed he's never seen upon
a flower, knows too how to split them, flies off, and
presently.. .his voice floats down 'cheer, cheer
Dr. Eiseley recalls how it is the seeds that are
singing and how the seeds came to be. He thinks on
childhood and sunflowers he has seen: "I think upon
FAVER
these seeds now being spun by some adroit bird magic
into notes that move more than a bird's heart."
The relationship of the seeds to the bird and the sun
flower to the soil reminds us of the interrelationships
and complexities in nature. Loren Eiseley continues: "I
tell myself it is the seeds that sing, that, without seeds,
cardinals could not sing, and seeds are brought up
from the leaf mould underneath the dark, then formed,
shaped within a flower's heart, encased and strewn for
any bird. So here the brisk red cardinal sings a bright
sunflower song dissolving the sullen silence... I think
this bird a miracle to so transform a seed, but then !
think the flower also a miracle and so work down to
earth, the one composer no one has ever seen but all
have heard."
Listen for the sunflower song of the cardinal and
ponder the thoughts of Loren Eiseley on how it all ties
together into a pattern of marvels and miracles. Such
pondering will help bring you joy and awareness of
the life around us.
MORE LETTERS
Not Reelecting Incumbents Would Be ' Folly '
To the editor:
Please allow me to express my
concern for the coming town elec
tions in Sunset Beach.
My family has had a home on the
island at Sunset Beach since 1969.
At that time there were less than 100
houses on the island. Mrs. Winifred
Wood was mayor, and she was
struggling, trying to get a zoning
hoard established.
Obviously our public officials
since then succeeded, even to the
point that two or three years ago Dr.
Orrin Pilkey of Duke University rat
ed us the number-one beach com
munity in North Carolina.
Much work has gone into devel
oping a public sewer and runoff sys
tem. In my opinion, it would be the
ultimate folly to not reelect our in
combent mayor and councilmen to
another term.
E.H. McJunkin
Sunset Beach
Smokers Rewarded?
To the editor:
I was told at school today that
there is a program in Brunswick
County that if you smoke, and
promise to quit for a month, some
people will give you a pizza and a
free bowling game.
m
I think this is unfair! If you don't
smoke, you don't get anything. This
is going to get kids to smoke just for
some free stuff.
They are rewarding the smokers. 1
don't smoke, hut 1 don't get any
thing for being good.
Alan M. Creech
Shallotte Middle School
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61993 TMf BRUNSWICK BEACON i
Stop Fumbling, Stooping, Worrying
No more fumbling for a pull
chain.
No more fumbling in the dark for
the light switch.
Stop worrying about your smoke
detector.
Cancel that plumber.
Cover up those ugly and harsh
bare light bulbs.
Never come home to a dark yard.
Never burn your fingers again.
Never stoop again.
The catalog came in the mail to
day, 88 pages of helpful products to
care for my home. This is nothing
like your staid Fuller brush offerings
of old. when the nice man stopped
by and took your order for duster
spray, witch hazel lotion and can
openers that lasted forever.
These products range from the
reasonable to the ridiculous.
People must have more twenties
to burn than I do who'll order a
$19.95 vacuum-powered bug suck
er: "Never squash another bug.. .This
very clever device allows you to trap
and dispose of all types of bugs
without touching them, smashing
them, or getting near them. The Bug
Sucker has a powerful 14.000 rpm
fan motor that draws the bugs into a
disposable cartridge. ..(and) has an
extension tube for those hard-to
reach bugs."
There are no less than 20 products
here to rid your home or yard of spi
ders, mites, fleas, flies, mosquitoes,
roaches, burrowing rodents, rac
coons, birds, fleas, snakes, silver
fish, mice, yellow jackets, deer and
"those cute but pesky squirrels."
If your problems are of a more
personal nature, despair not. You
can stop toilet tank sweating forever
with an insulating foam liner that is
"safe to the environment and your
family."
Other products designed to en
hance the efficiency of your water
Lynn
Carlson ^ ^
closet includc the toilet tank maga
zine rack, set of two, h(x>ks includ
ed, $8.95. And while you're at it,
"stop spilling and breaking sham
poo. soap or conditioner in the tub
or shower." with a four-compart
ment dispenser, yours for only
$29.95.
And talk about your efficient use
of household appliances! You can
use your dishwasher for more than
just washing dishes. Load your
washer with baseball caps, silk
plants, plastic pans, weenie dogs
(just kidding) and other light items,
cover with Stay-Put Dishwasher Net
and turn the switch. "Works just like
a hairnet. Fits all washers."
This lust for gadgetry is really a
guy thing, right? Men think these
things up and other men buy them
and give them to their wives as gifts
which are appreciated, let's say, to a
somewhat lesser degree than dia
mond earrings would have been.
My husband carries in his pocket
at all times a Swiss Army knife that
has several blades, a pair of scissors,
a screwdriver, a nail file, a waffle
iron and a tiny collapsible table saw.
My father takes an electronic dog
zapper when he goes for walks. He
reports only partial success with it.
All the lamps in his home are
equipped to turn on and brighten in
30-watt increments at the touch of
any of their metal parts.
My brother-in-law-to-be has a se
rious hardware addiction which
manifests itself in not only gadgetry
but in all tilings electronic. My
sister gave him a welding torch for
Christmas. He was impressed.
A guy thing, indeed, my right
eously indignant husband smirks!
He guides me around our house,
past the lighted makeup mirror and
under-your-pillow television ear
phone to point out the electric coffee
grinder, balloon and spoon w hisks in
eight varieties and sizes, six kinds of
cheese graters, seven colanders, a
dozen spatulas (wooden, plastic and
metal, large and small, with holes
and without) and five pepper
grinders.
I murmur something vague about
my search for the ultimate one of
each. and. besides, you use different
kinds for different things...
I'm taking his hand to lead him
down to the storage room for a retal
iatory tour, when I notice the cabinet
door is open and clearly visible are
no less than a dozen pie plates, a
half dozen pizza pans and seven
muffin tins.
I change the subject.
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Catherine Moore, Owner
It's time for the citizens of Ocean Isle Beach
to be a part of the political process!
ELECT KEN I
ProctorI
OCEAN ISLE BEACH COMMISSIONER
You don't have to wait to read in the newspaper to find out what is going on widi your
town government. You can be a part of the decision-making if you elect
a commissioner diat will represent the interests of all the citizens of
Ocean Isle and not just the special interests.
Growth of our town is one of the most important issues that will face
k i our town in the years to come. Growth must and will come, but it must
jf also be orderly.
E This is, after all, primarily a residential community, and I feel it should
T/ remain so. Our town should stay family oriented.
I have experience in this matter since I serve on the Town Planning
Board. I am also involved in many other activities of the town, including serving on the
Board of Directors of the Ocean Isle Museum of Coastal Carolina and on the Board of
Directors of the Ocean Isle Beach Property Owners Association.
I sincerely ask for your support and vote and I promise to always try to represent the
best interests of all the people of Ocean Isle Beach, to work to keep the current tax rate
and continue to provide first-rate town services. ? paidpouhcal advertisement
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