Death of a Hummingbird . . .

   Today when I got back from the mountains where I attended a big quilt show, I went over by our clubhouse to water the plants as I do normally every other day. Suddenly I spotted something moving and trying to get away from something I couldn't see. When I got close, it was a hummingbird, a small one, on the pavement, and the ants were after it.  I immediately picked it up, took it inside the clubhouse and carefully hand cleaned any ants off of it with warm water.  Then I dried it off and took it home.
   Once home, I made a makeshift "nest" to keep the little bird warm lest it be in shock. Then I hung the hummingbird feeder next to it and tried to get it to take a little nourishment lest it be dehydrated. Through much of the day, I stayed with it, trying to coax it to get better from whatever had befallen it. At times, it seemed as though it was rallying around, sipping the nectar with its tongue as I would help it to drink from the feeder. I felt certain that it was improving.
   But as suddenly as I first found it, it slipped away, its little tongue gently out in a beautiful little sad arc.
   I have placed it gently into a tiny ceramic birdhouse lined with cotton balls and it is still seeming to drink from the feeder. I just can't seem to let it go without some sort of homage to it, even if it be temporary. Poor dear little soul.

   Hummingbirds have found their way into much art, poetry and other writing. I can see why. They are such endearing birds, perhaps because they are so tiny and so seemingly fragile, though they can actually be quite aggressive when they are defending their territory. Sometimes they are immensely curious as well, coming right up close to other animals or people with seemingly no fear. They will look for a long time, as if trying to get to know the nature of something better, or perhaps they are trying to look into our very souls.
   I found this beautiful poem about hummingbirds, and it seems a fitting goodbye to my tiny little friend.

And the humming-bird that hung
Like a jewel up among
The tilted honeysuckle horns
They mesmerized and swung
In the palpitating air,
Drowsed with odors strange and rare.
And, with whispered laughter, slipped away
And left him hanging there.
- James Whitcomb Riley

Blue Moon . . .

   The next blue moon will supposedly occur tonight, August 31, 2012.
   There are a lot of myths and folklore about the blue moon, but a blue moon is actually defined two ways: 1) Two full moons occurring within one month. 2) Or it can also be the third full moon in a season that has a total of four full moons instead of three.
   This is a rare occurance in any event.  The moon doesn't really turn blue during the blue moon phase, but in theory it could. It will only appear blue if the atmospheric conditions are just right, such as smoke or dust particles or something else in the atmosphere that produces a haze that would possibly change the way humans would see the color of the moon from earth.
   Some volcanoes in the past made the moon appear to be blue and in 1950 and 1951, some major forest fires in Sweden and Canada also caused it to appear to be blue.
  The blue moon that will be visible tonight is going to be a calendar blue moon, or the second full moon in the calendar month.
   Blue Moons occur only about seven times in 19 years—or approx. once every two-and-a-half years. The blue moon phenomena is sort of  like the leap year, happening as a calendar catch-up. It takes the moon about 27-1/2 days to go round the earth. Since this is less than the number of days in a calendar month, occasionally causing the two moons to occur in one month.
   I doubt I will get to see a blue moon tonight as it has been raining a lot this afternoon, so we are unlikely to have dust or haze. I suppose anything could happen though.
   Though it isn't a blue moon, this journal quilt done in 2006 had that eerie feeling of a blue moon.  At least that is always how I have perceived blue moons. You can click on it to make the image larger. This was a challenge done in my Cut-Loose Quilters group, which has since disbanded more or less. The challenge was to take a book, go to a certain page and line, and then make a journal quilt based on that line. I cannot remember the name of the book right now nor do I remember the name of the artist, but it was a very fun challenge.
   I am not a beer drinker, but I saw this beer at the grocery store that would be very appropriate for watching the blue moon phenomena tonight.  I doubt the autumn special brew is available yet, though it is feeling as though we are jumping into the fall quickly with the heavy rainy weather that caused my Verizon to give a flash flood warning. This would definitely warm the soul!