hummingbirds

September 20, 2014

Fall is in the Air

It has been a long hot summer here in the south of the USA.  Where I live, we did get a good bit of rain.  The grass stayed green and had to be mowed Fortunately, I have a person to mow it for me.  All the rain and high temperatures caused it to be quite humid.  I hate the humidity.  Five minutes is all it takes to be wet.  Not all places in the south got this much rain.  I have friends who live in central Texas who would have loved to share our rain.

The temperatures have cooled down.  It is comfortable on the patio in the mornings.  I go there to drink my morning coffee and then eat breakfast.  I love to listen to the birds as they wake up and sing their morning songs.  There was some fog this morning.  There was just enough to make the landscape look interesting.

Do your hummingbirds tell you when their feeder is empty?  Mine do.  I had one fly to the window to get my attention last year.  It just hovered there, looking at me.  I put food in the feeders yesterday morning, but was surprised to see them almost empty when I came home in the afternoon.  I was tired so decided to leave them until this morning.  I guess they emptied both feeders by the end of the day.   While I was eating my breakfast, one flew down in front of me and hovered, flew to the feeder, then back to me.  I am somewhat intelligent so I got the message.  I filled the feeders.  It is getting close to time for them to fly south, so they must be filling up their larders for the long flight.

I am looking forward to the trees putting on their autumn attire.  It is my favorite time of the year.  I love the colors.  They fit me.

I am an autumn person.  I have reddish blond hair, hazel green eyes, and a light olive complexion. I am a Heinz 57 person.  My fore-bearers came from France, England, Scotland, Ireland and the Cherokee Indian Nation.  There may be more that I don’t know about.  That is the thing about this nation.  They came from everywhere to build a place where people could be free and many came to experience that freedom.  We became one people.

I am afraid for my nation and I am not alone.  I talk to so many people who feel the same.  We have had such poor leaders in Washington.  The news media is so biased they cannot be believed.  They set about to destroy any who don’t agree with their philosophy and ignore worse in those that adhere to their beliefs.  I have watched good people maligned by the media and the movie makers.  I have seen reprehensible people glorified.  We have a constitution which was drafted by those who knew what it was like to live in suppression and they meant that to not happen in this new world.  They were wiser than any Supreme Court judge that we now have, wiser than those self seeking elected officials who have forgot the reason they were elected, wiser than any of the movie makers and most certainly wiser than what passes for the news media today.  If we followed the constitution in the spirit in which it was written, we would still have a powerful nation.  If the federal government would stay out of our personal lives and do what they are supposed to do, which is look to the defense of the nation, we wouldn’t have a problem with illegals coming across our southern border, we wouldn’t be in debt to another nation.  We are one nation.  We had better be under God.

If you don’t think God steps in when a nation gets too far from his principles, look at history.  Look at Israel.  When they turned from God, the Assyrians and the Babylonians destroyed the nation.  What was left of the nation of Judah was then destroyed by the Romans.  It’s not that those nations were so good, they were a tool.  Later they too were destroyed. We had a good start but there are those in this nation who are set on removing our individual freedoms.  There are those who call good evil and evil good.  They are going to cost us this great nation and there is no other place on the planet to replace what we once had.

There is one man that is speaking out for our nation.  His name is Ben Carson.  I am hoping he will run for president in 2016.  He cares for this country and what it stands for.  Buy his books and learn his philosophy.  The news media will start to crucify him once he throws his hat in the ring, but don’t believe them.  They do that to anyone they fear and they fear anyone who loves this nation.  Look what they did and are still doing to Sarah Palin. They don’t tell the truth and they do it subtly.  They don’t want to get caught.  If they do, they lose their jobs.  This country belongs to “we the people” and it is time we took it back from the media, Washington DC, and Hollywood.  I believe Ben Carson can help us do that.  I know he will have a fight with congress.  There are so many there that have become powerful and have no concern for the country.  Hopefully there will be enough new congressmen and senators that will help him.

Before you go vote, be sure you know who you are voting for and what that person stands for.  Lets get American patriots in the leadership positions in the country.  We need people who will work for the betterment of this nation, and not for their own gain.

I love my country.  There is no where else I would want to live.  Down through the years I have watched our freedoms being stripped from us by politicians.  One by one, they are taking away our constitutional rights.  Please join me and those like me to protect this nation.  You do that by voting for those who also love this nation and want to keep it as our fore-fathers intended.

Let’s take back our nation and make it a great again!

May 14, 2014

Morning Greeters

There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than sitting on my patio as the morning dawns and listen for the first bird to sing its joy for the day.  After the first one, another will join the song and soon the trees are full of bird song, lifting their voices in praise of God.  Each one has it’s own song and so I listen, identifying each one as I can.

I have a yard full of mockingbirds.  They are cocky fellows.  I have watched them chase squirrels, tease my cat and bully other birds.  They ignore me and come right on to the patio.  They believe they can out smart and out maneuver anything.  They imitate the song of other birds so I need to be sure which bird I am listening to.

There are some cardinals that hang out in my back yard.  I believe one has a nest in my honeysuckle vine.  I have not checked but I see a hen slipping under the foliage.  They are a bright spot of color any time of the year but are especially appreciated in the gray winter days.  Their bright color is like an ornament on a Christmas tree.

There are robins that stay around.  They must nest near by because they always seem to be present.  There are some rufus sparrows about, too.  They come in to the bird bath for a drink of water.  They are almost as pretty as a cardinal.  Occasionally I see a little yellow bird drop by.  I don’t know what kind it is but it is really pretty.  There are a variety of birds that pass through.  Each has it’s own song and special beauty.

I put up a bluebird box a few years ago and there have been several clutches raised in it.  I love the mellow song of the bluebird.  There is always a male and female together.  I have decided the male goes house hunting each spring and when he finds one he considers suitable, he calls her to come check it out.  She looks it over and they fly to a near tree and discuss it.  If she like it, they move in and begin building the nest.  She lays the eggs and stays in the nest overnight to keep the eggs warm.  He goes somewhere nearby to spend the night.  Come morning, he flies to a near branch and waits for her to get up.  If she waits to long, he will call her.  She comes out and they go look for breakfast.  They are back and forth during the day.  When the eggs hatch, they both bring food to the chicks.  He is very protective of his family.  Once I saw a mockingbird land on the nest box.  The little male came out of a nearby tree like a rocket and knocked the mockingbird off .  The mockingbird squawked in surprise.

You have probably guessed I also put out a hummingbird feeder each spring.  It is a pleasure to watch their antics.  They are greedy little fellows and don’t like to share at all.  One year I had about 20 of the little guys coming to my feeders.  It was amazing to watch them line up like planes in a holding pattern to get to the feeders.  I haven’t had so many in several years.  I find myself wondering if something has caused the population to drop, but I hear others say they have a lot of birds.  I have only had two or three for several years now.  The honeysuckle are in bloom now.  I have noticed they don’t come to the feeders as much during that time.  I suspect they are feeding from the honeysuckle and they could be nesting at that time, too.  A few days ago I was taking down the feeder to put in fresh syrup when one came and tried to feed while I was taking it down.  Once I got the feeder free, he came back again.  I held the feeder while he drank his fill.  On several occasions he has flown down to my eye level and looked me over.  Last year when a feeder emptied and I hadn’t noticed, one flew to my kitchen window and looked at me, then flew back and forth. I decided it was trying to tell me the feeder was empty and I needed to do something about it.  I filled it.

As you can see, I derive a great deal of pleasure from my feathered friends.  I can’t say they aren’t afraid of me, but they aren’t concerned about my presence.  I am just another presence in their backyard.