Hummingbird Fever

This occurs when the male hummingbird arrives in March or April and I follow him around trying to get that perfect
photograph. It usually never happens. That could be because I have never read the handbook with my new camera.
When the female arrives and then the young juvenile babies they are much less camera shy and I can take multiple photo's
of them. Today I got a photo of him on the coral honey suckle. I had the ISO at 400. I have no idea what that means. My son
set it there for me. He is the one who bought me the fancy camera. I wish he had also stayed around to give me a few
lessons.
Today I was skyping with a friend in Holland. There is something magical about sitting in your sunroom on a video cam and
talking live to a friend in Holland. It just seems magical. One New Years Eve he even stuck his laptop out the window in freezing
temperature I might add and gave me a view of their new years fireworks display in Shiedam Rotterdam. It was beautiful.
The internet technology has changed the face of the world. I can talk to my granddaughter on here live. Learn to play the
drums. Whatever did we do before this electronic age. I'll tell you. We went outside more, we had more picnic's, we played real cards at a card table. We saw the blue sky more, the bird song more. We felt the sun on our face more. I think progress is
grossly over-rated.
Today is sunny, cool and windy. And magically while checking the mail at my daughters house behind me I heard the screech
owls. They have not showed up to nest this year. But at least I know they are still in the neighborhood even if they are not using
my bird house.
We are still searching for a farm in Tennessee. This place is getting way over developed for us. It gets harder and harder to stay in the wild. Because civilization always finds you. Til tomorrow. My three four fans.

Hands

This hand belongs to the one I love. He was sleeping. I have always loved hands. I love very old hands gnarled with age. I love newborn babies hands. I love how newborns find their hands and hold one hand while gazing into the other hand as if it's a crystal ball. I love watching elderly couples still holding hands. It's a lost art holding hands. Hugging is still in vogue. But holding hands seems to have disappeared. I wonder why.
I believe the laying on of hands can heal. Not meaning in a religious way. I just think hands can impart energy and love and healing. A great man knew this. I love seeing people who work with their hands. Bakers kneading bread. Artists slapping paint on canvas. Mothers patting babies on the back. We don't touch enough anymore. We keep our distance. Unless of course you are Italian. We talk with our hands. We grieve with our hands. We make love with our hands. Today was a good day. The sun came out but it rained a bit. Something for everyone. Ever notice how the birds sing when it is just a shower. Bird's know.

When I met my husband

I had really given up on falling in love. I had even given up on finding anyone I was attracted to. And then he showed up. I didn't like him. Really. He wasn't packaged cool. He wasn't given to keeping up with the current style of dressing. He wore when he was on leave from the Air Force ( garage pants from his part-time job) But, I worked with his mother at the time. And she and I were friends. So, I went out with him one more time. That was the time he kissed me. I remember thinking, I never want this kiss to end. And then I remembered being horrified and thinking (not him) And good thing he doesn't read my blog.

It's just that I was young and wanted what all young girls want. The gorgeous guy, great dresser, loves dancing. Well, he was not any of those things. But he could ring my bell over and over again. Up until this date, I was thinking maybe I should try girls. Even though I had never had any crushes or thought about girls in a sexual way. I was shy of 20 years old. And then he came along. I really tried to get rid of him. But he stuck like glue. About this time i had decided I was just not dating enough guys. So I was dating every guy that asked. I was going out with three guys at one time. One was an artist hippie type, one was my steady date and 9 years older than I was. ( but more like my brother than a boyfriend) Well, Ralph got rid of all of them. One by one they
disappeared. The hippie guy was at my work place one time when Ralph came in and I had to go to the back of the office and when I came out, he had disappeared. I never saw him again. Then, every time I was at a college party with the steady date, Ralph would jealousy drive all around the university of Miami trying to figure out where I was.

Over time, I completely forgot how I thought of Ralph when we first met. It's as if I was looking through the eyes of love. By this time I hated to even be apart from him. But our relationship continued and lasted through living one year in France, one year as an airline stewardess. And finally after three years of seeing each other we got married. I know now what is meant by, "Love is
blind". Because love is the great common denominator. When you fall in love, you look at the other person through different eyes. it's a strange feeling. And if you're lucky and you work at keeping that glow alive it lasts forever. I can remember just the touch of his hand was all it took. I feel lucky. That we met. We lived in different parts of the city. Never would have normally crossed paths. But I worked with his Mom. One thing I will say about men. if he treats his Mom well. Grab him.
Here have some goldfinches.