Humming along

I'm sharing my living room with a male hummingbird this morning. He's either incredibly stoopid or very stubborn. I like to leave the door open so the dogs can come and go as they like and inevitably a hummer or two will fly into the living room. They usually find their ways out and leave with an indignant chirp. This guy's been here for half an hour, though. I have my feeder stuck on the outside of the window and he continues to try to feed from the inside. At one point he was flirting with his girlfriend through the glass. She was as puzzled as he was and chirped even more loudly than he did. Earlier I had TWO male hummingbirds in the house, but #2 cleverly navigated his way out without my help. I have several tactics: throw a dishtowel over them, wait until they're exhausted & grab them with my hand, try to get them to land on the broom. So far none of these has worked. He gets sooooo close to the door, and at one point he ventured to the opposite side of the living room. He even stuck to the wall to rest once. He flew right past the open door. The poor little thing just keeps swinging back & forth in front of (back of) the feeder and won't let me near him. Last year Tess actually caught one in mid-air and another got its beak stuck in the screen door and died. I thought I was running out of males but more showed up. I'm not sure we want this guy to procreate but I sure would like to have him out of my living room, pooping the tiniest poop on my computer.

Up at 5:30 and had the nicest walk through the bog. The sheep laurel is in bud, the bracken (which looks like prehistoric, giant ferns) unfurling. Very peaceful, very pretty. Doug, the guy from Nature Conservancy has been there and the boardwalk is clear of blowdowns. I almost forgot that I have to work today but then remembered I have to be in Lake Placid at 9:30. That means leaving home around 8:15 or so. Guess I'd better start at least thinking about showering and what I'll wear. Extra Paxil seems to be going right to my tubby tummy.

I'm using free trial of Earthlink to access the internet. It pretty much sucks. Not a fast connection, even though it was a good connection when Molly used it at Liza's last summer. Anyway, my address at home apparently is woodsrun at earthlink.com, but I'll still be checking my cefls.org address periodically. god forbid I should enter the void that is normal life in Hawkeye without email.

Matt Lauer awaits, Mr. Hummer frustrates.