And a new day is dawning on us all….The draught of understanding; wisdom, peace, and love is ours….

Hummingbird don’t fly away, fly away.

Seals and Crofts (1972)

Is it just weird that I’m afraid of hummingbirds?

I put out a feeder recently. As I sit out on the deck, drinking my early-morning coffee, the hummingbirds hover three or four feet in front of me like tiny Bell helicopters. Around the feeder they jockey for position and dive bomb each other, much like the various countries’ aircrafts in World War II.

It’s somewhat unsettling. What’s supposed to be a peaceful morning between me and Mother Nature has become a battle of the birds.

Let’s start from the very beginning. Several years ago we turned our screened-in back porch into a sunroom. When we did that we added a 12X12 deck at one end. I’ve never used it but to have a few picnics with my granddaughter when she was younger. It was just us, a quilt, and a tray of food.

Being retired for three years now, and always looking for a project, I decided to create a container herb garden. I started with herbs because I’d read they were easy to grow.

Never having had any luck with house plants, and never having grown anything outdoors, I chose the simple route. I really hate failure. I got started, the easy way.

Being the social media wizard that I am, I posted every step of the process and progress on Facebook and received tons of good advice. Upon the recommendation of one friend, I waited until after Good Friday to buy and plant.

It was great fun selecting the buckets and pots, painting many of them, and filling them with soil and herbs. I started with the Simon and Garfunkel usuals…parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. And then sage, oregano, dill, cilantro, lemon balm, and two kinds of mint. I enjoyed it so much I added a tomato plant. Then I purchaed chrysanthemums, pentas and daisies. I got a small hibiscus tree and two colors of salvia. Before you know it I had over twenty pots in my garden.

One morning I got up at 6:15 to drink a cup of coffee in my new haven. I saw the first hummingbird I’d ever seen on my property in the 20 years of living here. It had been attracted to the red chrysanthemum.

When the rising sun glared in my eyes, I poured another cup of java and moved to the now screened-in front porch. Another hummingbird visited me, having been drawn in by the red knock-out roses.

Naturally I saw it as a ‘sign.’ I scrambled to Amazon to order the first of what has become three hummingbird feeders.

Now, in mid-summer, I find myself loving being an accomplished container gardener. My plants are flourishing, although I’ve had to ‘pronounce’ three or four along the way. Those unfortunate plant souls have been replaced by something with which I’ve been successful. For example, begonias are out! Two colors of daisies are in.

And so that brings me back to my now pronounced fear of hummingbirds. It’s called kolimpriphobia. For real, it’s right there on Google.

I’m not planning to seek therapy for my new ailment. I might just move one of the feeders off the back deck; as I said I have three spread strategically throughout the yard to cut down on competition and territorialism.

The better solution would be if they would just stop fighting and learn to share. Can’t we all just get along? Well, apparently not.

The Great Creator knows what He’s doing, so I won’t question the behavior of hummingbirds. I’ll just have to rethink mine!

Oh, and by the way, hummingbirds are really smart; they know who fills the feeders. If they are hovering in front of me it is to say, ‘hey you, we’re out of food’ or ‘this stuff tastes spoiled!’

Now I am slave to a collection of herbs, plants, flowers and a bouquet of hummingbirds that scare the socks off me. What madness have I created?

dmzh

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)