Notes from the Front Porch

The weather has been so nice, and the mosquito population so low, that we have been able to enjoy sitting on the front porch a lot this summer. One of our three hummingbird feeders is on the porch, so we get to see a lot of the action from our tiny territorial defenders. In between sorties to engage incoming enemies, the resident "papa" bird, or alpha male, often perches in the redbud tree, just a few feet away.

One afternoon not long ago, this female or immature male, either from a local brood or perhaps a migrator, managed to get in several sips before alpha papa attacked. And for once I had the camera handy.

The humming birds often challenge us as well. Few sights are as scary as one of these miniature gunships flaunting its wings, shaking its tail, and pointing that needle sharp beak at you from less than 5 feet away! Especially if you are another hummingbird. Thank goodness, the warfare has mostly ended now. Starting around Labor Day, the alpha papas departed for Central America. (The males are always first to arrive in spring and first to leave in fall. That means the females and younguns get to travel alone, without any fighter escort. So much for hummingbird chivalry!) Lately there have been what seem to be a lot of transient birds. They slip in just before dusk, perch and drink for a long time, perhaps replenishing calories depleted by their journey. How something so small can travel so far continues to amaze us. And they manage to spot our feeders, too, from a fairly high altitude.

Last week I was sitting on the porch, filing my fingernails so I wouldn't mess up the house, and a hummingbird flew right up in front of me, displayed its full array of feathers, and then just seemed to look at me quizically. Finally he or she flew away around the side of the house. And then it dawned on me--I was wearing my St. Louis Cardinals 2006 Championship T-Shirt--which is bright red. This puzzled avian briefly mistook me for a source of lunch. Sorry, little guy!

Today I was sitting on the porch going through the mail and drinking some coffee after getting home from Water Exercise. A car from Wisconsin pulled up in the driveway and it was one of our neighbor Barb's friends and business partners. She called out to me and said she knew Barb wasn't home, which is true. Barb and Ava are in Wichita until the end of the week. But her friend was in town for a wedding and decided to stop in briefly anyway. There is something old fashioned and touching and oddly reassuring about living in a neighborhood where friends know how to find the extra key and can use your place as a rest stop whether you are home or not. I realize that people who think it's crazy to share a driveway will disagree with me, but I'm glad we have such neighbors. It makes the world less harsh and scary, and in times like these, that is a Good Thing.