Little Things

Isn't life funny? It's not the big things that we strive so hard to do, find, have that bring us joy. It's the little, seemingly unimportant things that it's so easy to overlook.

A few to offer:

This my little fountain in it's finished form. The old grindstone, a gift from Bob Kellogg, is highlighted by a bell-shaped flow of water. I'd originally planned a bubbler, but the bell seems better for our avian friends. Since putting this together I find I want to sit on the front porch and just quietly watch and enjoy.
And, the hummers continue to be part of the show. We need to get a hummer feeder with maximum ports. This morning there were at least eight little devils fighting over two ports, and they empty this feeder in less than a day. Our thought had been that because it's in sun a smaller feeder would be better 'cuz it wouldn't allow the nectar to become rancid. Wrong. It's doesn't have time to age at all.
So, I can listen to and watch the fountain, watch the hummers, and look up at Eagle's Nest all at once. We had a Rufous hummingbird here for a day, a bit of a rarity. This is a migration route for them, but they don't hang around. The Rufous became my favorite while we lived in New Mexico (where they do hang around). They are a bit stubbier and stockier than the Ana's, and very aggressive. Such a kick to watch.

And, here, cupped in Scottie's hands is a baby bird hatched in a nest that mom established on the main rafter of our porch. We found a dead bird last week, a suicide by window, and I was afraid it might have been the mom. Scottie agreed to check out the nest, and this little guy/girl didn't like being looked at! Getting him/her back in the nest was tricky, and fledging has occurred now, so our little baby has moved on.

I have this theory that it's not the mountains we have to climb but the pebble in our shoe that causes grief. Can't help wondering why we'll walk on and on, feeling the pain, complaining, but not stop and simply remove the rock. Sorta like the food in the rat trap from another angle. Some things trap us by drawing us in; some trap us by our unwillingness to deal with them. Got any pebbles in your shoes today?