Of Raspberries and Hummingbirds

Yesterday was hot. Really hot. It has been hot all week but yesterday we were out working in the yard because our topsoil was delivered and we had to do some prep work around the yard so it can be spread out properly by our local grader operator (hereafter known as Farmer Joe) later this week. There was grass to be clipped, wood to be moved and ants to be cajoled out of wood piles. They were not particilarly cajolable, and many bit my ankles in protest, unfortunately.

But as we were going around the perimeter of the yard we noticed that the wild raspberries were ripening nicely, and we each had a handful or two as the day wore on. They were delicious! There's nothing like eating a sun-ripened, still warm raspberry.

Later, when I was quite worn out and taking a breather on the porch, I saw a hummingbird! I haven't seen a hummingbird here for two years, and that one I scared away. This hummingbird was flitting about some red salvia flowers I had planted under the Schubert chokecherry tree. It hovered there for a while, while I sat there gawking at it and trying not to scare it away this time. I think it may have been a Ruby Throated Hummingbird. I will definitely be planting these flowers again next year.

It is so nice when serendipitous things happen like that. I knew there was a reason why I wanted to take a break right then! Despite the heat, the day was a nice balance of working and resting. If we take the time to be still from our busy-ness from time to time, things seem to unfold nicely:

The Tao is constant in non-action
Yet there is nothing it does not do

If the sovereign can hold on to this
All things shall transform themselves
Transformed, yet wishing to achieve
I shall restrain them with the simplicity of the nameless
The simplicity of the nameless
They shall be without desire
Without desire, using stillness
The world shall steady itself

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37 as translated by Derek Lin