Hummin' along

Just in case it gets hot and feels like summer, I have been getting up early to blow glass with Nate Parker on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The pace is always good and the quiet time before all gets bustling is lovely.
Well last week on Thursday the day started out as usual, but ended in what we are fondly calling a magical moment. I blew, it got hot, I had help preparing for the upcoming Maine Crafts Guild show. all was well and good, that is until, the humming bird entered the scene. It rose to the top of the hot hot ceiling and fluttered there unsuccessfully trying to escape. Pushing it's tiny head against the ceiling like a fly against a window no progress could be made. I have seen this before sometimes bees or in this case humming birds go after our glass because of it's vibrant colors. I think they mistake it for blooms or something tasty. When a humming bird gets caught inside it will flap it's wings, invisibly quick until it just can't flap any longer. In exhaustion it will finally careen to the ground. This is what began to happen only I caught it in Ken's hat before it fell. We all began running outside as though filled with the birds passion for open space. Running outside, I grabbed a ribbon, and requested some sugar water, Ken obliged.
Lying in the hat in the garden we gathered around the poor little humming bird...it appeared nearly expired. I offered it the sugar water dipped ribbon and it's beak opened to reveal a hair thin tongue which licked the small droplet it contained. Yippee, he righted himself. We offering the sugar water repeatedly and wondered if it was sweet enough...no energy seemed to return to the iridescent fairy bird. Rachel got it into her head to dip her finger into the residual sugar on the bottom of the cup, and gather some crystals up under her nail. This she gently offered. A humming bird drinking from your finger?!?! Have you ever imagined such a thing? The tingle and tickle of the teeeeeny tongue lapping at the sweet finger. Blink blink and a snap of the camera, another blink and the creature flew up and away. Happily we watched the empty sky, after it's flight. Had that really just happened, had we seen the tongue, the green feathered body the trusting eyes had we been giant flowers for a moment? Rachel called it a magical moment. Truly it was.