A Walk on the Wild Side
Posted By Beth Terry on November 4, 2008
I know, I know, today I’m supposed to be reminding you to vote; or carrying on about this candidate or that; or telling you NOT to vote if you disagree with my choices…
But this morning I had a far more interesting encounter than all the blather on TV about the elections.
While I was lifting weights on my patio, I noticed the trees looked a tad thirsty. It was a nice 70 degrees, and very dry. I wandered over and, setting the sprayer on “gentle rain,” proceeded to shower the trees with homemade rainfall. This was a time I wished I had a video feed directly from my eyeballs to a camera.
Two baby birds decided it was time to play. One was the teeniest hummingbird I had ever seen - my baby finger is bigger. It’s downy feathers were just forming with a hint of turquoise showing at the neck. A baby sparrow was playing with him. Chirping and chuckling, they flew directly under my rain shower and sat on a branch, moving their heads, shaking and flapping their wings to take full advantage of the rain. Then they flew around the orange tree a couple of times, and came back and sat under my rain shower again.
This went on for a full ten minutes. I held perfectly still, trying hard to memorize this moment — to be in the “now” of it, the zen of it. I was close enough to reach out and hold these birds in my hand, and had to fight to urge to do just that.
Then, they both looked right at me, holding my gaze, as if they just realized there was a very large bird creating this rain. We stared at each other for an eternity, then the sparrow chuckled and off they flew to sit in my nectarine tree and ponder.
I sat on my patio and watched them for another half hour. They don’t care what today is. They don’t worry about the economy. They don’t know who will win the election, and tomorrow their life will be the same either way. They need food. Shelter. Protection from predators and inclement weather.
Some days it would be nice to just be a hummingbird.
Enjoy your day!
Beth
© 2008 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc.
About the author
Beth! I’ve been so busy bustling around in my own little world, that I haven’t checked you in a while. Your hummingbird story is so poignant. Kind of like, Stop! Smell the Roses! That was very stress relieving for me. Thank you!
(I should have read this earlier and would have avoided my encounter with another senior moment, er, brain fart, which I wrote about here: http://jeaniespokane.blogspot.com/2008/11/another-oldtimers-moment.html)