THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9506300181
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Thursday, June 22
10 a.m. - Glenwood community.
A man and woman are walking through the neighborhood on this hot, sunny morning. When they turn onto Round Hill a chubby little bird standing on the concrete comes into view. The couple slow down to see if the bird, which looks like it's just out of babyhood, will fly away. It remains rooted to the sidewalk, and doesn't even flinch as the humans approach.
``Oh, no, I think he's hurt,'' the woman says, squatting for a closer look.
``It looks dazed,'' the man agrees. ``He must've fallen out of the nest or his mom kicked him out.''
They look around for a mama bird and glance up into the surrounding trees. No nest in sight. The brown-feathered bird, eyes closed and breathing laboredly, looks as though he's on the verge of death.
``Honey, we have to do something.'' the woman says, her voice catching. ``What if kids come by with a BB gun or just decide to run over it with their bikes? Maybe we should call Wildlife Response.''
Her husband finds a strong stick and crouches next to the bird. He holds it in front of the bird and lightly pushes the creature onto the stick. The bird weakly hops onto the stick and opens his eyes. The man walks around with the bird and searches for a shady area. He places the bird and stick under a tree, safe from errant cyclists.
``That's all we can do,'' the man says, putting an arm around his distraught wife. ``He'll be fine. You know what they say - survival of the fittest.''
Six hours later, the woman revisits the place. The stick is still under the tree, but the little bird is gone.
- Pam Starr
Saturday, June 24
2 p.m. - Corner of Great Neck Road and Shorehaven Drive.
The Cox High School marquee announces that ``Summer School begins Firday.''
- Gary Edwards
Sunday, June 25
10:30 p.m. - Baltic Avenue.
It's unusually quiet along Baltic Avenue, normally a busy street.
The houses are dark. The air is still. Only street lights illuminate the scene - until suddenly a car with three young men appears out of nowhere in a parking lot next to a small house.
They're listening to rap music and the stereo is cranked to a deafening level.
The bass lines are low, long and fuzzy, ending in a tic: booozz-dt. booozz-dt. In the background, a singer is shouting something.
The driver parks the car 10 feet from the house.
Booozz-dt, booozz-dt, booozz-dt, booozz-dt.
In fact, the guys are waiting for another car, which arrives moments later with their girlfriends!
Then everyone gets out and they hang around, shouting at each other over the din of the music. One man runs to a back yard and urinates.
After about five minutes, group changes CDs. More loud music. Ten minutes pass. Another CD.
Nearby residents talk about asking the noisemakers to leave, but the conversation turns to worry about the wisdom of confronting anyone these days, especially at night. What if they're not nice people? They're not very considerate.
A man calls the police with a noise complaint. It's not a priority call, so another five minutes pass. Just then, the party's over. The music's off. They're in their cars and they leave.
Quiet returns to the neighborhood - just as the the police arrive.
Two residents meet two motorcycle officers and explain the events - and their worries.
``That's OK,'' one officer says. ``It's better that you call us. Some people can really have an attitude these days.''
- Tom Holden
Monday, June 26
10 a.m. - A parking lot on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Two bumper stickers sent out thoughtful messages.
Says one, ``It's not right or left. It's right or wrong.''
The other reads: ``War is not about right or wrong. It's about what's left.''
- Gary Edwards
Tuesday, June 27
6:45 a.m. - Kempsville High School football field.
Early risers are taking advantage of free physical fitness opportunities. Several individuals walk or jog around the track, one makes repeated circles on a bike that appears to be older than most of the runners.
Meanwhile a determined young woman in white shorts and a red T-shirt climbs resolutely to the top of the bleachers, turns, steps smartly down, then repeats the process again and again.
Finally, having reached some predetermined number of repetitions, she makes two sharp left turns and strides off the field.
The woman on the bike gets off, climbs the stairs once, comes down, thinks about repeating the process, then thinks better of it.
She climbs on her bike and goes back to circling leisurely around the field.
- Jo-Ann Clegg
Wednesday, June 28
2:35 p.m. - A bank on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
While two bank customers wait in line, two out of three tellers and another bank employee try to convince a man at the counter to sign up for one of their credit cards.
Then, one of the tellers steps over to help a customer at the drive through window, ignoring the people waiting in line. After cashing the drive through check, she speaks through the microphone again, trying to convince that customer to get a credit card. When that effort fails, she attempts to get him to start a savings account with only $5.
Inside, the two people are still in line and more customers are arriving. One rolls his eyes and walks out without ever being waited on.
- David B. Hollingsworth ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
The goal is to play
Young soccer players seem lost in their thoughts as they wait for
drills to start at a soccer camp at Cape Henry Collegiate. Perhaps
by the time the camp starts, they will have grown into their
T-shirts. One thing's for sure, the jerseys won't stay that clean.
by CNB