Flitting Thoughts

Flitting Thoughts

Noel Laflin

6-15-21

I was sitting in the fragrant shade of a lone orchid tree yesterday morning waiting for a hummingbird or two to come in and fly from pretty bloom to bloom. I have watched this very scene before, and it never gets old. There are still a few blossoms on the gnarly old tree drawing in bees of course, but I was hoping for a hummingbird. One did flit by eventually, but he was too quick, too high up, and clearly too practical to pose for a picture.

A woman I met here a few weeks ago told me that a pair of elderly brothers planted this tree years ago. As to why, she did not know. But when it blooms throughout the entire month of May, and then into the next month, well, perhaps the brothers knew what kind of gift they were bestowing upon future generations, including the old guy crouched below its splendor, waiting for fickle little birds, but until then, enjoying both its fragrance and shade on a warm June morning years later.