There are some who don’t know about ‘hummingbirds’, those small, colorful birds that are so beautiful! These special birds sip nectar rather than eating birdseed. I have four feeders on my front porch, with the nectar I make in the kitchen. I use one cup of sugar and three cups of water, mixed well. I don’t use red food coloring because I read that it is harmful to the birds. The red containers (feeders) get their attention.
In the early morning and evening hours I sit and watch these beautiful creatures fly from one feeder to another. When one is sipping, however, another often flies by and chases the bird from the feeder. Like some people, these are selfish; they don’t share. You never see two birds sipping with their long beaks at the same feeder.
You might see several flying around the feeders but these are not sipping nectar. Their goal is to chase away the one that is sipping. Still, these birds are very entertaining and beautiful. I spend hours each day just watching and enjoying my hummingbirds. They are around approximately from April to October; they will be gone soon. Of course, with my huge yard, I also have many cardinals (red birds), mocking birds, bluebirds, robins and others. I enjoy seeing all of them. It doesn’t take much to entertain me; my thoughts are not on the craziness in Washington or the mess the world is in. I am thankful for the pleasure I get from seeing these birds of many colors sip or feed at the feeders. I also have birdseed in feeders for the other birds. I often watch these too.
In watching these beautiful birds, I am reminded of the power of God, that He gave us so much beauty in nature. I am thankful for the eyes to see and the heart to appreciate.
I look out my many windows, or sit on the front porch, and see the beautiful woods surrounding my home. In every direction I see nature and enjoy all that I see. In S.E. Alabama, the leaves will be changing colors soon, so a whole new ‘show’ awaits me!
I am also aware of the sometimes destructive forces of nature. In past years, (I believe it was 1975) on the ONLY NIGHT IN THREE YEARS that no one was there, my home was totally destroyed by a tornado spawned by hurricane Eloise. Four of my children and I had moved from Miami to Alabama; we were usually there but on that particular dawn we were not. Had we been there, since the house was tossed about and destroyed, we probably would have been killed or badly injured.
To be able to enjoy a simple thing like watching the hummingbirds is a treat and pleasure for me. I choose such things rather than ‘worry’ about the status of our present world – and the phony politicians who think they are in charge of all things. These do have the power of their office but they don’t and can’t control whether or not I enjoy my beautiful hummingbirds. I am grateful for even those small blessings.
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83-year-old Lura Zerick is the mother of 5 adults, grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother of 7. She was born and raised in the Florida Panhandle. After living in Miami, Atlanta, Tampa and other cities, she now lives on six acres of woods in S.E. Alabama, near Geneva.
Lura has been involved in writing since 1965. Her freelance articles are published in regional and national magazines. She has authored five books.
She was Executive Editor of a regional magazine, Grassroots South; Editor’s Assistant for an international publication, Journal of Marital & Family Therapy; wrote a newspaper column, Encouragement for Today and wrote features and news articles for various newspapers. Her articles have been published in Alabama Living, SpiritLed Woman, Just Between Us, Writer’s Digest, Mature Living, Christian Single, Army Flier, Army Times, Looking Back and other publications.
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