earlier this week, while i was out back feeding the birds, i heard that familiar buzz of tiny wings in the trees. i looked up only to see a trace of her, whisking away in a swift blur: an ash-brown hummingbird. now as you may know, i'm a little superstitious about hummingbirds and their connection to my dear ones on the other side. i excitedly ran inside to the kitchen like a little kid, the first hummingbird! i shouted to james, quickly boiled four cups water one cup sugar, and while it cooled, scrubbed out the little nozzles on grandma mickie's feeder. i filled it, and hung it in the bony branches of the pear apple tree, expectantly awaiting spring.
today, while little jasper and i were out back with max the cat, we had our first hummingbird sighting of the season at that feeder. you see her? i asked. a stummingbird! jasper exclaimed. we sat there, close together on the stubby rock wall that tom built. be very quiet and still, i said, and she will come back for more juice. we waited, and watched while she buzzed back and forth, back and forth. she loves to drink juice? i love to drink juice! jasper cheered. yes, there she was, sipping away, at only a four foot distance, hardly flinching at the excited antics of jasper the laughing tow-headed 3.25-year-old, that little lady hummingbird, taking breaks between drinks, nearly disappearing against the camouflage of dead leaves on brown spindly blackberry brambles, though my eyes knew exactly where she was sitting. perfect i thought. this moment couldn't be more perfect.
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