My parents have a beautiful yard. They are definitely garden people and both have the skill and temperament to coax lush beauty out of vegetation in this hot, dry climate. They are out there every morning watering, pruning, weeding and [insert gardening terms here].
I am nothing but a disappointment in this area. When people tell me that they enjoy gardening and that it relaxes them, I think that they are lying. It’s hard for me to believe that someone would enjoy what I consider an impossible, thankless task that involves sweating and not sitting in front of a computer.
Anyway, while I can’t garden myself, I do appreciate their lovely backyard. Not only is it full of pretty plants and trees, they have bird feeders and birdbaths set up all over and the birds flock here. Good grief, it’s like being in an aviary. The best, though, are the hummingbirds. I could watch them for a long time, because they just seems so impossible. They sound like giant bees as they whizz around. No, I take that back – they sound like lightsabers.
I learned what a male Roufus hummingbird is. He is a orange and brown jerk with a white stripe around his neck. He is a small hummingbird that is very territorial and won’t let any of the other hummingbirds near his feeder. I tried to get a video of him chasing the larger ones, but they’re just too fast. He even got ticked at me for being too close.