Hummingbird Finds Peace

Hummingbird didn’t mind that Cardinal would often make the plans.

“Tonight we are going to the Robins and tomorrow we are going to hang out with the Sparrows."
"The Sparrows?!" Hummingbird hummed cautiously
“The White-Crowned not the House Sparrows, no worries, “ Cardinal preened his tightly cropped crimson crown. (too tight if you ask Hummingbird, which he rarely did).

Hummingbird grinned. She rarely worried with Cardinal in her life or rather her worries were considerably less with Cardinal in her sphere. Given that she spent most days, all day humming and flitting and humming and flitting to have someone else chart her course, whip up some nectar nuggets or direct the evening flight was glorious. Hummingbird’s life was hectic; trying to find fruit in an almost frozen tundra was exhausting. Certainly, Hummingbird could go South or West someplace where flowers bloom year round and fruit was plentiful, but then she wouldn’t have a life with Cardinal, and it was a life she loved.

Theirs was a life in which she rarely thought of what was or what should be. All the loneliness of her past flights was distant memory. It was amazing how one bird could be so strong as to absolve all of her past beak-breaks. This was astounding to her. Most of her life was a frenetic frenzy, everyday Hummingbird had to eat more than her actual body weight just to survive. She was always humming hurriedly, "What next? I just slurped up a sunflower shake but what now? “ Yet, with Cardinal Hummingbird knew she would never starve, and never be cold for very long. He was sustenance and warmth rolled into one.

Some days she would arrive at his nest, her feathers in flux, frizzy even and waiting for her, grilled by the noon-day sun a fly steak with a side of berries, he gathered at the foot of some feeder. One would love anyone who basically made everyday survival easier & less anxious, but Cardinal was more than just a port in a storm, he was Hummingbird’s peace.

Hummingbird: flitty, frantic, hyper and high-strung what could she give to her cautious and caring Cardinal? Hummingbird hummed…a lot, was that enough? She couldn’t really cook (her long beak got in the way), she could nest, but not with the same detail and design like Cardinal..so what to give to the ‘calmness’ in her life?
So Hummingbird gave Cardinal the only thing she knew to give…a window to other worlds.

Cardinal, a ground feeder and seeder never really looked beyond the immediate tree, such exploration wasn’t necessary or so he thought until he met Hummingbird.
Hummingbird would take him (on the nights he didn’t plan) to a Hum Out, where all types of birds flocked together and performed original chirps. They participated in Bird Parades, helped out birds whose nests had been destroyed in storms or due to arborist arson, and even conversed with the transient and volatile blackbirds that would occasionally show up in their terrain. Food and warmth meet worldly wonders.

It was a life. As predictable certain areas of their life had become, their life together continued (at least to Hummingbird) to feel new and untapped, sorta like a fountain finally allowed to release its water for the entire world to see.