Hmmm... Hmmm... Hummmmmm

Shady Porch. Oil on canvas, 8x10, sold

At our house, we don't have a front porch, but we do have a back deck. If you sit there for long enough, you'll be treated to a hummingbird display.

There's just nothing on earth that approaches the hummers' flying prowess. They zoom across the deck, in arcs that they can change from shallow to tight in a millisecond. They zip past your head, so close that you can feel the air pulsing from the beating of their wings. If you sit still enough, they'll come close and hover, to see who you are and what you're doing. Peter saw one, involved in a hummingbird battle, zoom between the metal arm and the seat of one of our chairs.

We have a feeder that attaches to the window over the kitchen sink, and the hummers use it all the time now. They were a little wary at first, but it didn't take them long to get over it. Now, if the feeders have run out of nectar (and they do, astonishingly quickly, considering the size of the feeders and the size of the birds), the hummers come to the kitchen window and hover there, giving us dirty looks, until we get out and feed them.

This is one of the true delights of summer, in my mind.

Thanks for reading!