In early May this year, Tom and I were in a conference call in his office, at the front of the house. The hummingbird feeder had always been in the backyard. Tom's office looks out on the "rabbit hotel" ie the ugly and irritating juniper bushes along the front of the house. Suddenly in the midst of our conversation, a hummingbird appeared at the window and then in the bushes. It was as if the hummingbird was looking in at us.
I wanted to excuse myself from the meeting and dash into the garage and rummage around for the hummingbird feeder. I'd put it away last year and said to myself, "I've tried long enough. I can always enjoy hummingbirds on Nova or YouTube."
I made the hummingbird nectar (lots of sugar, boiled to get out the bacteria then cooled) and put the feeder out. We've not had daily hummingbirds this summer but they have been coming.
I find myself often sitting quietly on my back deck just fixated on the feeder. Then one will arrive. My phone pictures and video do not do justice to the experience.
So....it has taken the hummingbirds, the active, hyper little birds, to get me to sit still by myself during these lovely summer mornings and evenings. I'm a task-oriented, extroverted person yet finding myself more drawn to the quiet. I was excited to have 6 weeks at home without houseguests and travel these weeks.
While at a family reunion a few weeks with my very LOUD Italian family, I found myself disappearing for periods of time. Many of us took long power walks together. One day I'd gone ahead to take some pictures of the wildlife. Here we were in a stunning setting with deer grazing, a quiet lake. Then the Italian ladies, heard before they are seen, appear on the road, laughing and talking. Don't get me wrong....I love to laugh and talk. The contrast was so intense. I said to them, "Ladies, how about a little tranquility?" We all laughed together. But I've been thinking about that experience.
I don't think I'll ever be a person who spends hours in solitude, staring at hummingbird feeders. Maybe it is age, but quiet, silence, aloneness with the Lord has definitely become more attractive. Ironic, though, that the hyper little bird has helped me in this process. Maybe I should become a bird watcher? Fishing is also a quiet activity.
