My Special Visitor

~August 11, 2007~
The light rain brought a flurry of activity to the tiny deck just outside my kitchen door. I had just replenished the nectar in a glass hummingbird feeder, scattered a few hands full of seed along the railing and floor, then filled a clay dish with a mixture of corn meal and peanut butter that sends the squirrels and chipmunks into paroxysms of delight. My friends were all waiting..perched in the oak branches forming a graceful, protective canopy over their miniature sanctuary. They began to alight even before I closed the screen behind me. Calling their friends to breakfast, they chirped and chattered, filling the morning with sparkling bird song. Blue jays, chickadees, goldfinch, sparrows, Mr. & Mrs Cardinal.. even the cranky crow made an appearance, but found the offered fare not to his liking..a relief to his smaller avian relations.

The squirrels arrived in flying leaps from tree trunk to deck, noisily announcing their presence with a commotion before settling down to feast. Reliable as clock work, Redhead and her boyfriend, Gray are bold and incorrigible, wreaking havoc with my potted plants when made to wait for their breakfast.

Then, as sudden as a flash, there she was..my special visitor. Her tiny body flitting from flower to feeder.. Her iridescent feathers luminous as jewels in the rain-gray morning. Yes, it was she.. hovering before me, looking me straight in the eye, I swear. She knows me. Does she remember?

Continued.. part II

My Special Visitor

2007