Beyond the Glass

Off the grid most certainly does not mean 'out of touch', as all of my senses are stimulated by the bounty that lies before me, including my sense of wonder. "Wonder is that extravagant state of bliss induced by something new - the strange, astonishing, mysterious, and unexpected. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow." (Sarah Ban Breathnach)


Just this morning, as I stood in my backyard taking in the cool salt air and surveying the lush greens, purples, and pinks awash with 3 days of nourishing rains, a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird took center stage of my awareness. Against the backdrop of Tamarack, Balsam Fir, White Spruce and Lupines, he performed his courtship display not 15 feet from where I stood, stock still!

During the courtship display, the male hummer flies back and forth in a wide arc, like the pendulum on a clock, making a whirring, buzzing sound on each dive. Reaching heights of 20+ feet at each end of the arc, he swept down to within 2' of the ground with each pass. There was an ethereal effect to this early morning occurrence as the fog had thickened around me obscuring all by my immediate surroundings. I live in a hollow, my driveway circling around the back of my house, giving me the sense of being in the bottom of a bowl on days when I'm banked in by the fog.

I thought I was so lucky to have observed this behavior through my kitchen window on May 30 and 31st, but now I feel honored, humbled. This small delight will carry me through my day as I wait for the next magical moment to unfold before me.

I leave today with this thought to share:

"There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see." Richard Louv, "Last Child in the Woods"