Everything is very green today and the sun is shining. It would have been a great day to be outdoors, but the harvest has been abundant and needs to be preserved. So I spent the day canning tomatoes, cooking and mashing pumpkin for pies and making applesauce. The shelves are getting full. As I went to the garage to get more bottles, I saw two hummingbirds at the high window trying to get out. A goldfinch had been trapped in the garage since last night, but we had been unsuccessful in catching him. I put food and water on the ledge, hoping that he would survive. Now it was a whole community of birds, flinging themselves against the windows. I had to do something. I climbed the ladder and reached for one of the hummingbirds. It flew into a corner and I gently put one hand over it. It fluttered a little. Then, cupping my hands together around it, I inched down the ladder, hanging on with my elbow. It was like a feather in my palm. It made a couple of little cheeps, but stayed very still. Once outside, I opened my hands and it flew away. The second hummingbird was just as easy to catch. It cheeped a few times, but when I opened my hands to let it go, it stayed there, looking around. While I worried that I had injured it, I couldn’t help but admire its tiny beauty. Its eyes were dark and bright. Its feathers perfect with iridescence shining throughout. Its miniscule feet were tucked underneath its body. I held it up higher and suddenly it flew away. It was so light I couldn’t even feel it leave. The goldfinch was another story. It flew from window to window and finally on one low excursion, it saw the light from outside and flew away. We quickly closed the garage doors so as not to tempt any more visitors.

What a thrill it was to hold such a tiny, perfect life in my hands. The encounter left me with a feeling of awe at the magnificence of God’s creation.