A Visit

Way back in March, I think it was, I finally got around to purchasing a hummingbird feeder, making some nectar and hanging it up outside the window of my home office. I had all sorts of good intentions about replacing the nectar every few days.

But I'm really bad at those sorts of things. So I didn't. And I never saw any hummers come to it, so I sort of gave up. And it hung there with that first batch of nectar in it for an irresponsible amount of time.

But then! O happy day! On Friday, I happened to be in my office, on the phone, and one pretty little bird came by for every so brief a second. In fact, it was sort of like he saw the feeder, checked it out, and said to himself, "This stuff is nasty!" before flying off.

But just in case he was a forgiving sort of bird, I instantly reformed in my habits. As soon as I got off the phone, I got out the ladder, brought the feeder down, washed it out, made new nectar, and hung it up again.

And he was back this morning. Do you have any idea how cool it is to get to watch a hummingbird while you're writing a sermon?

I didn't put the ladder back in the basement; I found a spot for it on the back porch so it won't be so hard to replace the nectar. I really don't want to make the little birds sick. I guess this was one of those have-to-see-to-believe sorts of things. They could have been coming all along, just in moments I wasn't around to notice. But now I have, and inspiration has returned.

P.S. Nature is not all enjoyable prettiness though. This afternoon while opening a window on the porch, I suddenly had a bunch of tiny, little ants all over my hand! And ever since, I keep feeling like I still them crawling on me. Ick.