THE GIFT OF THE MAGIC

According to The Hummingbird Site http://www.thehummingbirdsite.com/ the ancient Aztec Gods of Sun and War were called the "Hummingbird Wizards".   These were the patron gods of the Aztecs.   The Aztec warriors believed when they were killed in battle, they would return as hummingbirds.   Aztec royalty and religious leaders were the only ones allowed to wear hummingbird feathers.   They would adorn their kings with capes made from hummingbird skins.  

This leads one to wonder how the capes were made.  How were the mystical birds captured?  How many thousands were killed just to make a king feel superior? And—if the birds were reincarnated warriors--the poor guys had to die twice for their leaders.  But I digress.

Hummingbirds truly are magic.  They are probably the source of stories of pixies and wood sprites.

When I saw them visiting the feeder at my daughter’s house I spent an hour or so stalking the little creatures with my camera.  I came home with photos like this:

and promptly went home and hung up a feeder at my house.  No takers. None.  I saw a few flit through my flower garden, but the eatery was shunned.

The other day I was up to my neck in my rose garden ripping out the wild morning glory that was strangling my beauties.  I was sweating and grimy and generally ticked off with weeds.  I heard the chirp even before I heard the zoom-zoom.  A little female hummer danced around me as I watched her methodically sip from every blossom on a stalk of larkspur.  For several minutes I stood still in the hot sun and absorbed her enchantment before she disappeared.

Yesterday morning I was in my pajamas looking out my kitchen window when I again saw a hummingbird visiting my larkspurs.  I nearly choked on my OJ.  Then I grabbed my camera and aimed it through the window as I tried to follow her about the flower garden.  Thank heavens for my Nikor 70-300 autofocus lens with vibration reduction.  Without my glasses I had no idea of anything was in focus. 

In the end I came up with these.  MAGIC.