This morning, when we awoke, we looked out the window and the first hummingbird of the season flew up to the window and looked in at us. She kept acting as if she wanted to come into the room and had the door been open I think she would have. Sue went down to the kitchen and prepared some food for her which seemed to make her happy as I later saw her sipping away at the feeder.

The cloud formations were particularly interesting, and so just as I stepped outside to take a picture, the eagle flew past. I hadn’t seen him since the ospreys returned to their nest atop a power pole. The ospreys refuse to make friends with the eagle and are quite mean to him but I suppose they are fearful that Mr. Eagle might harm their babies and thus their concern might be a justification for chasing the eagle away.

Yesterday, at church services, it was fun to watch the osprey carrying sticks with which to repair their nest which had fallen into ruin over the winter.

As I finished what was to have been the last line of this tale, the little female hummer flew up to the window in front of the computer screen and looked in at me, then flew over to the feeder for a few more sips. I guess she was trying to thank us for feeding her on this rather cold Spring day.

The overcast sky has cleared with many puffy white clouds floating by, the rays of the sun are reflecting bright flashes on the crests of the waves, birds of many species are singing, chirping, scolding, and calling to one another. 

The azaleas are in full bloom as are hundreds of dogwoods and hawthorns that are attracting myriad butterflies of various species that flit from blossom to blossom while the terns, gulls, martins, and vultures soar about against the azure sky.

There is an ethereal glow of sunlight shining through the fabric of the American flag fluttering outside my window making it appear as if it were made of liquid stained glass.

I promised my staff that I would be at the office by nine o’clock and although it is twenty minutes after ten, I am finding it almost impossible to leave my spot that overlooks the beautiful GREAT SPIRIT WILDERNESS.

I think that God is attempting to tell me that we should all stop and ‘smell the roses’ and enjoy the beauties of Creation rather than run ourselves toward an early grave in the rat race that has become THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE.


ETHICIUS I