Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / July 2, 1992, edition 1 / Page 5
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_ PHOTO BY bll FAVH rl^ANTS ARE COMPETING for the basic elements they need for existence: water, sunlight, car bon dioxide, and soiL Competition Among The Plants plants. Large leaves develop to shade out smaller plants and to give the plants a larger surface to get their light. When plants evolve their "niche" in the community, they have less competition except among their own species. They become specialized at living in one par ticular soil or light condition, and other species don't require what they do. Some plants even "help" each other, but not in the sense of knowing they arc assist ing. Vines depend on strong trees and shrubs for a place to grow. Mosses keep a forest floor moist and provide habitat for wildflowcrs and ferns. Tall trees give shade to allow some other species to germinate and grow. Competition also affects the size and shape of plants. A tree in the open in a yard or park will devel op a well-rounded, symmetrical shape. In a grove or forest, the tree may be tall and straight or one-sided (even before the tree-trimmers arrive!). Look around for ways competition is working am ong plants. It may not be as exciting as a Michael Jordan exhibition, but it can open up ways we can itiuiij ui uk?c yiuiiLs arc vines or airpiants wnicn team to appreciate uic cuiiipicxitics and the rciuucu need little soil. Trees and other tall plants shade out ships in the natural environment. their competition by keeping light away from smaller In Response To The Dreaded Inauisition BY BILL FAVER We Americans seem always to be interested in com petition. With the endless parade of basketball, football, baseball, and other sports on our televisions, we seem to spend most of our time following ou/ favorite team or race driver. The countdown to the summer Olympics promises a special di version from the political conven tions and usual summer reruns. Competition is a part of our way of life. Competition is also very important in the plant world, where the struggle to sur vive is endless. Plants compete for the basic necessities of their life. They need sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, minerals in the soil, space to grow. We are told plants in tropical rain forests get all the water they need, but are in con stant competition for sunlight. So they grow fast up high to break through the canopy and get light. Monu r\f ' - ' *- * ** FAVER "So where are you from?" It sounds like such an innocent question... And Ted Bundy seemed like such a nice guy. Up North, people generally ask about your origins not so much out of genuine interest but as a conver sation filler, to clear the pallet be tween more important topics: Like the amount of fat in the corned beef at Uncle Herb's boss's wife's friend's daughter's wedding recep tion. In California, everyone is from somewhere else and glad to be there, so they rarely discuss their former lives. What matters on the left coast is to "be here now" and to "forget about your used-to-be." In the South, people really want to know WHERE YOU ARE FROM: Not where you resided for most of your adult life. Not where you lived before you came here. They want to know what it says on your birth certificate. And they want to know it very early in the getling-to-know-you game, so that later observations can be put into proper perspective. Consequently I tend to cringe when people ask, "Where are you from?" Because I was born in New Jersey. Exit 20-something. But I moved away before I could talk! (See? No accent!) And I lived in dozens of places since then! Chicago! Richmond! Ci ncinnati! Syracuse! Rorschacher berg, Switzerland! And I've been in North Carolina for almost 20 years! Nearly half my life! Moved here as soon as it was Eric Q| Carlson * * imm * my turn to choose! Doesn't mauer. I'm still FROM New Jersey. Which for most south erners is about as endearing as say ing you like to keep a dead squid in your pocket Trying to explain that there are in deed some nice places in New Jersey is like convincing your buddy that your date's best friend "has a swell personality." Anyway, what's the point? Most of New Jersey IS paved (with bad roads). And much of the air IS pol luted. And people there DO talk too fast and too loud without saying too much. And nobody who isn't FROM there is going to go there on purpose. Except maybe to gamble. Or to see where Brucc Springsteen grew up. To tell the truth, I don't consider myself to be from anywhere in par ticular. I grew up in the back seats of cars heading for "our new home" someplace else. In fact, when I en tered the ninth grade, it was my ninth school. As a child, my favorite toys were boxes. We were always putting things into them or taking things out. It took years before I realized that you were supposed to play with what's IN the box and not the box it self. I would build forts out of boxes until they collapsed. Then the flexi ble boxes would became "tank treads" to crawl around the yard in. When torn flat, they would be used to line the nearest hillside, where I would introduce new friends to the thrills of cardboard bob sledding. All this moving about had its ad vantages and disadvantages. It gave me a bioader world view and made me quickly adaptable to new people and situations. But i: left me without a specific "home" to go back to. So now when someone asks where I'm from, I immediately go on the offensive, trying to avoid be ing hung with the "Joizey Boy" la bel. If I sense that my inquisitor is po litically liberal, ! tell them I'm a Native American. That really ticks 'em off. You can be a native New Yorker if you were bom in New York. And you can be a native Floridian if you were born in Florida. But uniess you arc of American Indian extraction, you can't be a Native American. For the conservatives, I simply say that I was born in New Jersey...but I was conceived in Texas. After all, my folks lived in Houston before I came along. This sidetracks the issue of my origins in to what computer people might call a "mind loop" of contradictions as they consider the broader questions of where my life really began. And docs it really matter after all? Personally, I like calling North Carolina "home." So, where are you from? Calabash insurance Agency Indmoual Hospitalization Group Major Medical Are you a small business owner or self employed and., tired of taking a beating on health insurance? WE HAVE THE CURE! Introducing a 100% health plan at economical rates endorsed by the American Small Business Association (ASBA). Call us for a quote or comparison 579-5969 dOA ft/r ntinu # w<m> ??? Out of area? Call collect. 1! I N G 0 Thursday Nights ? Doors Open 6:15 pm at Calabash VFW Post 7288 Carter Rd., Trader's Village, Calabash, 579-3577 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Games begin at 7:30 PM Minimum 'Buy In" $5.00 Minimum Pay Out $600.00 Snacks Available ? No Children under 12 II Beyond The Middle Of The Map After I wrote Ian week about moving from the mountains back to Brunswick County, a friend brought rue a copy of a column by Dave Barry, the funniest person in print, about hi* move U> Soulii Florida from Somewhere Inland. One of the most hilarious parts had to do with flood insurance, which Dave was iold does not cover you for damage caused by the fol lowing: 1. Floods. 2. Water coming into your house for any reason. It occurred to me that people who have no affinity for coastal living have no frame of reference for un liccaaiiuiiig wiiy linjsc ut u? winj live here would choose to do so. My mountain friends, to a persor., refer to that region as "God's Country," a notion I find a tad near-sighted. They've never heard of flood in surance, can't imagine living in a flat place without deciduous trees, couldn't stand to have grit on the soles of their feet, have never eaten raw oysters ana have absolutely no interest in doing so. (There are mountain oysters, but from wliat I've heard, they bear little rcscrn Vvl *#> mnf /-wwl \ ciuiivv iw JVUtWUi/ On hearing we were leaving the Blue Ridge (commonly referred to by meteorologists as "Applc-a CHEE-yah" or the "Appellation Re gion"), a number of my co-workers looked at me incredulously and said, "You'uns'll burn up this summer.'' These are people who refer to everything to the right of Hickory as The Eastern Pari of the State, which they pc.ceive as a steaming salty swamp that will turn an unwashed car to solid rust overnight. These arc people who have bumper stickers saying, "Make a hillbilly happy; go back to Florida." m yfek Lynn SW Car'son <? ^ j/l mJm On the other hanu, coastal folks don't seem to have the same suspi cion and distaste for Appalachia. This may have something to do with the theory that Pat Conroy put forth in The Prince of Tides, that our fore bears who stayed on the coast did so uudiut uk) uwu selling sou, meet ing strangers and being "citizens of the world." Folks who crossed the mountains and settled into hollers, he says, did so deliberately to isolate themselves from the outside. As an Ocracoke Island native once told me. when 1 was a tourist being made to feel right at home at a local dive's New Year's Eve party, "Oi troied to live in the mountains one toimc, but the people were just too *&S#@ clannish." The two regions have some other Sinking uiifuicnccs, among ihem: ?People here drive on the right side of the road. It was not at all un usual in the mountains to round, a blind curve and come headlight-to headlight with Robert Mitchum in his Thunder Road pickup, heeled over on two wheels doing 65 in the left lane. This will get your blood pumping. ?Here, 1 have cable television and a newsoaper delivered to my home every oay. My isolation made this impossible in die mountains. I have not yet decided whether this newfound umbilical cord to current trends is a blessing or a curse. But I must admit that I am rather amused by the Psychic Friends Network (hosted by none other than Dionnc Warwick) which i discovered in a fit of insomnia this week. i'vv'e nave much more impressive bugs here. Mosquitoes are about as common as crabpots in the moun tains, and they're incredibly well mannered. They light on your arm and hum softly until you discover and kill them. They don't leave welts, and they travel alone. Mountain cockroaches are also fairly tame. Fully mature adults are about as big as a child's thumbnail, as opposed to the prehistoric critters coastal folks euphemistically refer to as water ougs. i ou migni run into a mountain roach in your pantry once a year, but you won't flick on the lights to find them fleeing their family reunion which covered your kitchen floor. There arc striking similarities too, most notably a whole lot of new comers who devote a lot of energy to complaining about and trying to change the customs, laws, beliefs, hobbies, attitudes, priorities, dietary habits and livelihoods of the long time residents. Longtime coastal res idents seem to be taking this wiih a great deal more grace than longtime mountaineers are. But it may just be a matter of time before Brunswick County gets its own version of the aforementioned bumper sticker. Whatever your taste in topogra phy or local color, it's never dull to live in a place that is growing and changing, struggling and compro mising. That's certainly the case wiih uic Kcoiuaphic extremities of North Carolina. And in both places, I've gone to bed every night thankful that I don't live in one of those rectangular slates in the middle of the map. MORE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Give Emergency Vehicles Riqht-Of-Way To the editor: I'm writing you this letter because of the great concern I feel for the lack of respect given to people who work with the rescue squads and fire departments in our county. I work in South Carolina, and on my way to work, at least once a week, 1 pass an emergency vehicle on its way to an accident or fire. It mITImZCS ITiC hOW r v?rv pie are to these emergency vehicles. Do they ever stop to think that one day it may be their loved one in that vehicle, or that the vehicle could be going to a fire at their home? 1 know there can be nothing more frustrating to emergency vehicle dri vers than people who are too incon siderate to pull over and let them by. i try to pull over whenever possible. And it would be nice to see more people being considerate to think that someone's life is more impor tant than whether they get where they're going five minutes later. To all the people who volunteer their lives and their time to save oth er people's lives, I thank you, and want you to know that there are a few people who undc.siand what a few minutes could mean to someone else's life. Cyndi & Charles Testerman Shallotte A Poor Excuse To the editor: Concerning the letter published in the Beacon June 1*7, titled "C^Lih-'ish Board's Priorities Misplaced," 1 do not know what disagreement the writer has with the Calabash com missioners. However, if they had anything to do with the three pictures of the rear ends of women taken out of the win dow of the Wings store, they should be congratulated for doing their job. These swimsuii bottoms had oniy a thong in back. This type of nudity has been outlawed by most of our beaches. This being true, why should the town of Calabash tolerate it? Do we want to change our title from seafood capital to pomo capi tal? Wake up, preachers and churches. God ex poets far more from us than just to acecpt His free gift of person al salvation. We bccome a part of what we tolerate. A wishbone is a poor excuse for a backbone. William H. Stanley Calabash COMPLETE INTERIOR nr/^AnATim/* prm/i/?r UCV?VI\nill1V7 dLIWIV^C ? Carpet ? Vinyl ? Ceramic Tile ? Winaow Treatments ? Wallcoverings Ruby Floyd Oceatt late Hwy. 904, 03 Seaside North 579-6091 CI906 1HE tMJMtWflCX IIACON Declare Your Independence With a Motorola pager, you'll never miss a last minute 4th of July cookout. Friends and family can easily reach you when you're on the go. Motorola pagers make great gifts, too ? perfect for reaching independent friends. Call us today. ATLANTIC Mp ? j aj ^ TELEPHONE /Sft-tt.ll I MEMBERSHIP CORP. ? ? W ? ?
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 2, 1992, edition 1
5
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