Hummingbirds

For years I have enjoyed sitting in my living room recliner watching God's creation out the front window. Cardinals, blue jays, gold finches, doves, robins, and other birds are frequent visitors to my observatory. Squirrels often appear in addition to the occasional rabbit, ground hog, and fox. Once a large flock of turkeys entered out front yard and journeyed around to leave via the back. At times butterflies have literally taken over the zinnia beds my wife sowed last year. How marvelous are the wonders our God has placed in our world! Mother Nature, you are truly incredible.

A special addition to our viewing pleasure in 2020 has been the hummingbird feeder we installed on an eight-foot pool. It stands proudly a few feet outside the window...right in the middle of the flower bed. It has attracted lots of ants, as many as five wasps at a time, and its namesake, the hummingbird. Until today these generally arrived one at time. Carefully avoiding the insects, they drank their fill from the white feeder cups sometimes perched on one of the eight yellow plastic bars made for that purpose. They can hover with wings a blur or rest for moments at a time. The sugar water must be a really attractive nectar to the hummingbird palate.

Today the story seemed to change. All of a sudden two and then quickly three birds could be seen darting around the feeder. For over an hour we watched as they performed for our pleasure. How to describe them...they flew, frolicked, played, fluttered, capered, cavorted, disported, frisked, gamboled larked, rollicked, romped, sported, bounded, hopped, leaped, loped, skipped, sprang, tripped, tumbled, curvetted, danced, pranced, caroused, reveled, roistered, carried on, fooled around, horsed around, clowned, cut up, joyrode, roughhoused, skylarked, kited, cut capers, kicked up their heels (or wings), dallied, recreated, skylarked, toyed, and generally delighted us with their antics. They could adequately be described as participants in a World War I dogfight among biplanes with out the crashes and bloodshed.

Our 2020 hummingbird feeder!

We only had three. We have seen friends with multiple feeders that attracted many more...seemingly hundreds. Certainly they were too numerous to count as they flittered around mischievously. Thank you, Lord, for your magnificent creation.

Discovery

 Just finished putting the "final" touches on a major road trip plan that is almost nine months away. It involves meeting all our kids and grandkids in Yellowstone National Park in June and thereby celebrating our 50th anniversary. Yellowstone is a great locale for rediscovering the beauty of God's creation and the loving chaos of family.

That trip plan involves three days travel on each end plus reserving a place close to the park big enough to house 19 people for four nights. Success! It's done; but because of Covid uncertainties, everything includes the right to cancel with full refunds up to just a few days out...peace of mind. Those of you who know us well probably remember our anniversary is actually in January; but that isn't the greatest month for road tripping to a place like Yellowstone especially at our age.

With that task completed Delores and I decided to have a one-hour adventure looking for wildlife in Maury County Park and some the meadows around the industrial areas close to our house. We were also spying out places for a small group of church friends to get together for a picnic lunch this Sunday that includes lawn chairs, blankets, and BYOF (bring your own food). Laughter and fellowship sure to be present in large quantities. We've all been cooped up way too long during this pandemic. We're ready to paint the park red.

photo by Einar Storsul
on unsplash.com

The weather is supposed to be sunny with temps in the low to mid 70s hinting about the advent of fall. We "trust" the meteorologists to get it right this time. We were told to expect rain from Sally as she moved inland earlier this week, so we rushed to mow our lawn before that could happen. Alas, the yard is nicely shortened, but there was no precip from Sal.

On our short trip yesterday, we located several beautiful spots on the greenery of Maury County Park that will be perfect for our post-worship meal. Additionally we discovered 18 deer, one ground hog, and lots of squirrels. Fortunately there was not an ant in sight. We are anticipating a great time with friends this Sunday. Isn't discovery a blast!

Anyone who reads this and can find us is welcome to join us. Just remember to come with a spirit of joy, a smile, a chair, and BYOF!

Roads

 We love to road trip. In our 49+ years of marriage, Delores and I have travelled some very rewarding and challenging highways. This Labor Day we added The Dragon (Highway 129 at the Tennessee/North Carolina border - also known as the Tail of the Dragon) to our list of roads conquered. We actually stayed within the 30 mph legal speed limit most of the time. The same couldn't be said for the many supercharged cars and loud motorcycles who apparently took the challenge to drive the 318 curves in 11 miles as fast as mechanically possible. They can claim the title of dragon slayer. We had no such aspiration. This highway is known for its daring drivers and terrifying crashes.

In fulfilling our bucket list item of visiting every state in the USA, we have driven SAFELY on some amazing roads. This blog is about my sharing our favorites.

For scenic beauty a road tripper couldn't beat the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP that takes you up to 12,000+ feet. The last time we summited that road we not only saw the awesome vistas but several bull elk resting in the meadows just beyond the highest point.

Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP is incredibly breathtaking as well. The result at the top is to view the mountain goats and big horn sheep that frequent the area.

The figure 8 road (upper and lower loops) of Yellowstone NP are a favorite. This offers a lot of scenic variety from mountains to flowering meadows and thermal features to waterfalls. Its real claim to fame though is that there could be and often is a very large mammal or group of mammals around the next curve. We have been surprised by bison, elk, moose, black bear, grizzlies, big horn sheet, mountain goats, deer, pronghorns, et al. I have visited this park 18 times and hope to return in 2021. The secret to seeing the wildlife is to get on the road before the sun wakes up and stay there until the sun goes back to sleep. Take plenty of food and water for the day; because, in this time of pandemic, many sources for those staples are closed. It's simply a waste of  critter-spotting time to have to return outside the park between the hours of dawn and dusk.

One of the most challenging roads of my life was the Dalton Highway -- 500 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse, AK. The Ice Road Truckers drive this road on ice in the winter. I conquered this road of mud, gravel, pot holes and frost heaves on my 12,800 mile solo road trip from my home in Columbia, Tennessee, in May of 2011.

Those are a few of the more memorable roads of our travels. We have been on parts of Highway 95 on the east coast, Highway 5 on the west coast, and the famous Route 66 across the country. Additionally we have driven the length of Highway 1 to Key West. We hope for more of the same in the years we have remaining to travel.

One road I do not aspire to drive is the infamous Death Road in La Paz, Bolivia. You can Google that for some terrifying images. 

Best of luck as you travel the roads of your life. Be safe in the realization that wildlife along the forests and meadows of Yellowstone can offer as great a danger as the motorcycles you encounter on the curves of the Dragon's Tail. Wherever you drive, take your time and smell the roses along the way.

Photo of The Dragon from carthrottle.com