Sometimes You Just Feel Warm...

So I was out watering the berries this morning. It felt like one of those special mornings, one where the temperature is just right. Just a hint of a breeze, barely enough to spread the scent of the flowers around the garden. The cat, laying in the pathway waiting for a belly rub and the coffee still hot in the mug. Very special indeed.

That's when I heard something in the "Logans" wasn't much but it was there. Slowly, and somehow quickly at the same time a small pair of eyes came out from behind a berry leaf. Another inch revealed a female Anna"s Hummingbird:










We have a feeder on the front veranda and sometimes one in the back yard so to have a hummingbird in the yard is no surprise it's what happened next that made me warm and fuzzy!

She floated over toward the waterfall while I stayed as still as I could. She hovered and looked at the water and then at me and then at the water. With no threat to me and no threat to her she relaxed and proceeded to TAKE A SHOWER from my hose! She started with her feet, dipping them in the "stream" and rising up and then dipping back down. I could see her wiggling her toes as she bathed.
With toes cleaned it was time for the tail so she she dipped a little lower so the water covered he tail-feathers and thin did a slow pirouette so she could get the other side. Time for a break so off she flew into the crape myrtle to take care of some personal grooming.

Now I have always had a thing for birds and birds have always seemed to feel safe around me so what happened next was,well, way cool. She came back to finish her bath! Starting with the head she slowly poked into the stream. OK this is just the coolest thing to watch. Then I guess she was getting tired because she tried very hard to sit on the nozzle of my hose!
If you are unaware of it, the design of their feet makes the humming bird incapable of standing on flat surfaces or walking. They need to wrap their toes around a branch to rest.
Well the nozzle I'm using, off an old Miracle Grow sprayer, is  bit large for a roost and it took her a few seconds to find  a way to get the proper grip but she did and sat there for a few fleeting seconds until it was time to continue with her bath. She flew into and out of the flow of water a couple of times and the back to the nozzle for some maintenance then back into the water.

Our time together couldn't have been more than five minutes and it seemed like a leisurely time in the bath. With her bathing completed off she flew back into the crape myrtle to do the thorough chore of feather realignment and a proper preening.

I must say that it truly is "The little things in life" that are the coolest. Be it a song coming on the radio that somehow fits your mood perfectly or helping some poor lady get something off the top shelf at the market or maybe just a helping hand with a shower. Take the time and make a little effort because these are the moments that make each day warm and special.

There's Life and then there's Livin'!

We, the Darling Rebecca and I, recently went on a trip to another land. It was a strange land where time itself had no real bearing on the events of the day. It was reminiscent of the movie "Ground Hog Day" you know the one with Bill Murray. Every day began and ended the same way. Welcome to Belmont, Mississippi!
Shower, read the paper (all 6 pages), drink coffee, watch the "Weather Channel" with the sound turned off and wonder how do we kill off this one, the day I mean.
The days ended with us trying to avoid another "home cooked meal", then brandy (imported from Tupelo), a book and more brandy then bed.
The only thing that changed was the late middle of each day, after coffee we load up the car and it's off to?
Today it's  Tupelo, birth place of  "THE KING" Elvis Aron Presley! But just as important to us; it is the closest place to Belmont to get a drink!
I have never thought of myself as a drunkard or a sot but I gotta tell ya that I do like my wine with dinner and my brandy before bed. Every day it seemed we would wind up in one part or another of Tupelo, which is not always a bad thing, you can find some rare foods there like the elusive English Muffin (Belmont has very little "imported" foods) or the "Bunny Mallows"

Thank goodness we had the proper bait to ketch them bunnies... "Strawberry Mallows"!

After feasting on mallows its "Time for a libation" says I. So off to the local Bar-B-Que joint for some beers and BB-Q, 

but something is missing...

there ain't no beer here! And me with my nifty new bottle opener too,

I do declare you will never find a place that, at the same time, makes it so easy and yet, impossible to get  a drink!

I can't wait for tomorrow! I wonder what we will do?