Hummingbird moment

It happened for two mornings in a row and only as a result of walking the dogs. There is a part of our walk that leads through wildflowers on the edge of a swamp and, from a doggy perspective, is filled with intense and varied smells. This particular part of the walk takes a long time to accomplish even though the distance is very short. Lillee and Gabbee will take a step and sniff and this is not just a quick sniff. This sniff is a “bury the nose deeply for a long time” sniff. Each step is a “bury the nose deeply” step. As a consequence I spend a long time standing and breathing. The area is worthing breathing deeply because it is filled with all the wonderful “sniffs” of wildflowers.

The change over the last two mornings has been a visitor whom I’ve seen at a distance in the trees but never like this. Yesterday morning this iridescent visitor flew by and then came back and hovered looking straight at me. The beat of the wings was so rapid that the wings seemed to be still and the long pin-like bill used for gathering precious nectar pointing straight at me. It was almost eerie the way time seemed to stop and everything went still. It was like being captured momentarily in a bubble. The hummingbird appeared again the next day but this time it was to swoop across my path drawing attention to its beautiful coloring in the early morning sun.

I have learned to pay attention to small things like this. I believe that the Divine sends us messages in a variety of ways and nature is not the least among those methods of communication. After all, it was a burning bush through which Moses heard “I Am” so I’m convinced that nature is a significant method of Divine communication. When I got home, I opened my book of bird wisdom and checked out hummingbirds. This is what learned about hummingbird wisdom.

Hummingbirds see unusually well particularly in color. They can see patterns that are invisible to human eyes. They are also a high energy bird and need to eat almost constantly to stay alive. They draw their life and energy from the nectar of flowers. A hummingbird hovering around a person invites that person to see deeply, to look beyond the surface and search for patterns that are difficult to see. A hummingbird experience suggests being aware of energy levels. The invitation from the hummingbird is to spend time in nature or enjoying nature’s bounty in the forms of fresh fruit.

In the past, I would have been content to admire and be in awe of the hummingbird moment but I have come to believe that there is more to these experiences than I originally thought. To be honest, it is a little difficult to write about because of wondering what the reader of this might think of me. To see a hummingbird as a divine method of communication is not part of my current culture. I can’t even say that I know exactly what the hummingbird may have been trying to communicate to me. This is what I do know. Because of my dogs I stopped and it was in that moment of stopping that something extraordinary happened. I searched for meaning in that extraordinary moment. I sought to look deeply and to search for patterns that were not part of my everyday experience. Since then I have become more aware and have taken more time to hover in nature allowing the beauty to surround me and to quiet me and perhaps that is all that I am being asked to do: stop, hover and sip deeply from nature’s bounty.