For the birds

When Haezebrouck and his wife of 32 years, Deborah, hit the vacation trail, it's literally for the birds. A cross between Fred Sandford and Martha Stewart, Haezebrouck spends vacation time crafting birdhouses out of beach junk. Flotsam and jetsam become homes for finches and jays.

Most vacationers tote snorkels, flippers, shovels, pails, and other standard beach fare. Haezebrouck takes a tube of liquid nails. He doesn't spend his downtime on trips reading novels. Instead, he makes works of art worthy of becoming office décor. He takes his creations back to Georgia and prominently and proudly places them where his patients can enjoy them, too.

He has built birdhouses for his staff, patients, colleagues, and anyone else who might desire a decorative domicile. But Haezebrouck is clear about one thing: His hobby is purely for pleasure, not profit.

"People say, 'If you ever left your profession and got into this, these things would go for a fortune on eBay,'" Haezebrouck says. "If I put a price on this, I would never like it. It's not a dollars-and-cents thing. Someone at [Life] college just offered me $500 for a birdhouse, which was made from an old African mask. I couldn't believe someone would pay that kind of money for something like that."

Deborah Haezebrouck spends her vacation time photographing natural scenes, frequently in black and white. If the couple sees a scene that will make a nice wall hanging, she snaps the picture, and soon it adorns an office wall as well.

"I have my information and chiropractic charts in the back office, but I try to have an office that is comfortable to people," Haezebrouck says. "A lot of people are afraid of what we do."