When you start backyard birding, you will try a lot of ideas from the "experts" that won't work for you. Just quickly get rid of anything that doesn't work. Don't keep them around to aggravate you as I have done.

I noticed in my 40s that I cried more easily. As soon as I became aware of this, I began trying to figure it out. See if my ideas make sense to you.

Wrens have always been one of my favorite birds. Going all the way back to my college days when I took ornithology at Trevecca College, I have loved wrens.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is adapted from Dalton Roberts' soon-to-be-published autobiography.

This town has not done a good job honoring Bessie Smith. We built a blues hall. Then when we didn't really want blues performances, we turned it smoothly into a "cultural center" when the only thing cultural about Bessie was her blues.

I have no expectation of a neighbor, except that they be honest and pleasant and neighborly. I never expected one to be perfect, but Theo King was, in the words of a song by the group Alabama, "Close Enough to Perfect for Me."

If you want to get spanked until your nose bleeds, just write a column about some sports issues of the day and make a mistake. The sports fanatics will swarm you like chickens on a junebug.

One of the protesters camped out on the courthouse lawn called me and asked what I thought of their protest. I asked, "What is it you are protesting?" and after fumbling a little with his answer, he finally said, "I am not sure."

Something is wrong with Peyton Manning. I don't care if his neck operation is a success and he can thread a needle with a football, something is wrong in his gourd.

Words play a dominant role in human society, but we fail to fully realize this. We use our words carelessly and thoughtlessly. A writer needs to love words, but even nonwriters should develop a healthy respect for them.