Hummingbird Wars

Another post to my blog. What a week! I have been a busy beaver getting my assignments prepared and completed. First Doug and I had to talk in church today. So getting my talk researched, prepared, and edited took quite a bit of time. Second I was told last week in Primary that I had sharing time this week. Sheesh! I haven't even had my calling long enough to see another class presentation in this ward. So I don't know what they like, what they have or haven't done, etc. But after giving it a lot of thought this week I came up with a good concept about how to talk about pioneers in Primary. So I got that one done too.

The talks went pretty good. I'm not that good - but it is always good to be done. I thought Sharing Time went really well if I do say so myself.

We had a visitor who came to church with us today - Mom. Yes, she drove all the way over here to support us and hear us give our talks. It was good having her here even though she basically had to fend for herself - couldn't sit by her or come to the other meetings with her. But it is always good to visit with her.

I also fed the missionaries on Wednesday. We had the best breakfast spread ever! We had scrambled eggs with cheese, english muffins, pancakes, syrup, strawberries and whipping cream for the pancakes if they wanted, hash browns, a bowl of mixed fruit, orange juice, bacon, and sausage. It was so good. They were smiling from ear to ear by the time they left. It was a hit. Thanks mom, for the idea.

I also spent a fair amount of time trying to do some more painting. I have two rooms ready to roll - the ceilings and walls are primed and ready for the final paint. Hopefully I'll have some more time this week to put into that task.

There was an event that served as an escape from all of the above activities. Hummingbird Wars. I got two small hummingbird feeders that stick in the ground and put them just outside my kitchen window. The window is nice but the view of the block wall is a little less than exciting. So the addition of these colorful feeders is great. It took a few days before we saw any hummingbirds. But soon enough they found the feeders and have returned for regular feedings. There seems to be some hummingbird gangs because a couple of birds are in competition with one another. They want exclusive feeding rights at my feeders and will stand for no other bird to enjoy the same. So one bird might be mindlessly feeding when out of nowhere another hummingbird comes charging toward him. The feeding bird makes a quick move to avoid collision. Then the other one darts toward the feeder but before it can get even the tiniest of tastes, the original bird flies in and buillies him over. They dart in and out, over the fence and back, above the feeder and below the feeder - all in their hummingbird turf wars.

As I was watching one of these exchanges - I decided it was much like I imagine a Quiddich game might play out. You know Quiddich from the Harry Potter books? Yes, that game. Everyone in search of the same thing. Darting up and down, in and out, death spirals, charges right at a person then the last second move to get out of the way. That's what the birds were doing. It was pretty funny. All this wasted energy and if they would cooperate both of them could get a drink at the same time - there are two feeders. I guess they weren't taught by their mom's to share. But either way, the spectacle brought a smile to my lips and gave me a needed break. I was enjoying the Hummingbird Wars.