The hummingbird feeder story.
I've been up in the Adirondacks for a week, at my friend's cabin.
She put her hummingbird feeder out and we waited for them all to come.
2 days later one very small (maybe female) showed up. So we thought....good, now they'll be others.
By the end of the week....still just this one small hummingbird, and we wondered why she hadn't led others to it.
Which made us remember last year when we sat and watched 2 larger hummingbirds....maybe male....who'd arrived at the feeder at the same time. The feeder has about 5-6 spouts for them to use.
However, these 2 hummingbirds.....calll them hb1 and hb2 had a routine.
hb 1 would hover at the feeder, hb2 would peer at it from the bushes. As soon as hb1 started drinking, hb2 would fly out of the bush and chase it away.....into the bushes.
So hb2 now hovered at the feeder. As soon as it started to drink, hb1 would fly over and chase it away.....into the bush.
hb1 was now back at the feeder, hb 2 peering from the bush.
As soon as hb1 started to drink......well you get the picture.
We watched this go on for over a half hour, till they finally both gave up, neither of them having had a drink.
We thought there's a lesson about sharing here that apparently hummingbirds have yet to learn.
Which brings me to a different story.
About someone who well learned that lesson, and lived it.
I got the news yesterday that a former work colleague, teacher and friend had drowned in a freakish boat accident, and that news has set the world that knew him reeling.
He had a large world because he lived so right, so fully and shared as large as he lived.
He shared his wit, his intellect, his wisdom, his humor.....his heart, his love of people.
His life lessons extended far beyond the confines of any classroom.
He has a Facebook wall, and I've never before seen so much commiseration, so many stories, so many people showing up to tell theirs. Their memories, the tales of how he impacted their lives. Friends, colleagues, former students some now adults whose children he taught.
He reached everyone who knew him. One young man recalled a time that Tom had phoned him and said when you do dumb shit it makes it really hard to defend you. He said that brief conversation made all the difference in the world to him.
Tom could see the dumb shit, he knew we all had it in us, but he could see past it, He could see and reach the person behind it.
And he did, all the time.
One of his sons posted a thank you to everyone saying...."His heart was as big and as open as his mind......He was the wisest most amazing human being I've ever known and I would have been happy spending one year learning from him, let alone 26."
I'd love to know that somehow Tom knows how he is being celebrated.
My feeder photo is not a real tribute to him. I just knew that if he heard it, he would have shaken his head and laughed.
And I'm laughing through tears as I type.
Tom, it was a celebration to know you. And a privilege I will treasure all my days.
I'm taking the rest of July off Flickr. No special reason, just that .....it's summer. And the world outside is in the fullness of life.
I wish you a good one.
I'll look forward to seeing you again sometime later this season.
There's a lot I celebrate in knowing you, too.
The hummingbird feeder story.
I've been up in the Adirondacks for a week, at my friend's cabin.
She put her hummingbird feeder out and we waited for them all to come.
2 days later one very small (maybe female) showed up. So we thought....good, now they'll be others.
By the end of the week....still just this one small hummingbird, and we wondered why she hadn't led others to it.
Which made us remember last year when we sat and watched 2 larger hummingbirds....maybe male....who'd arrived at the feeder at the same time. The feeder has about 5-6 spouts for them to use.
However, these 2 hummingbirds.....calll them hb1 and hb2 had a routine.
hb 1 would hover at the feeder, hb2 would peer at it from the bushes. As soon as hb1 started drinking, hb2 would fly out of the bush and chase it away.....into the bushes.
So hb2 now hovered at the feeder. As soon as it started to drink, hb1 would fly over and chase it away.....into the bush.
hb1 was now back at the feeder, hb 2 peering from the bush.
As soon as hb1 started to drink......well you get the picture.
We watched this go on for over a half hour, till they finally both gave up, neither of them having had a drink.
We thought there's a lesson about sharing here that apparently hummingbirds have yet to learn.
Which brings me to a different story.
About someone who well learned that lesson, and lived it.
I got the news yesterday that a former work colleague, teacher and friend had drowned in a freakish boat accident, and that news has set the world that knew him reeling.
He had a large world because he lived so right, so fully and shared as large as he lived.
He shared his wit, his intellect, his wisdom, his humor.....his heart, his love of people.
His life lessons extended far beyond the confines of any classroom.
He has a Facebook wall, and I've never before seen so much commiseration, so many stories, so many people showing up to tell theirs. Their memories, the tales of how he impacted their lives. Friends, colleagues, former students some now adults whose children he taught.
He reached everyone who knew him. One young man recalled a time that Tom had phoned him and said when you do dumb shit it makes it really hard to defend you. He said that brief conversation made all the difference in the world to him.
Tom could see the dumb shit, he knew we all had it in us, but he could see past it, He could see and reach the person behind it.
And he did, all the time.
One of his sons posted a thank you to everyone saying...."His heart was as big and as open as his mind......He was the wisest most amazing human being I've ever known and I would have been happy spending one year learning from him, let alone 26."
I'd love to know that somehow Tom knows how he is being celebrated.
My feeder photo is not a real tribute to him. I just knew that if he heard it, he would have shaken his head and laughed.
And I'm laughing through tears as I type.
Tom, it was a celebration to know you. And a privilege I will treasure all my days.
I'm taking the rest of July off Flickr. No special reason, just that .....it's summer. And the world outside is in the fullness of life.
I wish you a good one.
I'll look forward to seeing you again sometime later this season.
There's a lot I celebrate in knowing you, too.