New Guy on the Block
Linda Soller | Sep 09, 2024
Last week was pretty exciting at my house. After a fun summer of watching my three female/juvenile hummingbirds at the feeders a male arrived. I don’t know if he had been living nearby or if he is now migrating, but he is very handsome with his ruby throat and shinning green feathers. Unfortunately, he came with an attitude. A rather assertive, somewhat negative attitude. The other birds had gotten along well. While I know hummingbirds can be territorial, I have to say the new guy is a bit pushy and skittish.
Sometimes in life we get that same feeling about people. Someone new comes in, for whatever reason, and their actions are not what we are used to. We might think, why can’t things go back to the way they were. But the truth is, things change. Change is good for the most part and we need to deal with it. There may be times when even though we accept the need for change we pretend that we don’t . Let’s face it, some of us thrive on confrontation. No matter what words come out of our mouths our expressions and actions speak volumes. That new person knows when they are welcome verses when they are just tolerated. They can see it on your face.
My regular hummingbirds come up to the window near the feeder. They look in at me before they eat and sometimes after. I read that hummingbirds recognize human faces. Who knew? Even if I move from my chair the hummingbirds would stay at the feeder. Meanwhile the new guy on the block sits on a branch in nearby bushes and flits away if I move the least bit. He never approaches the window. Even though I know he won’t be here much longer, I decided to look at him and smile and hope he would settle in. After a few days he seems less skittish and will sit in the bush staring back at me. I mean, if I were the new guy on the block, a smile would go a long way to say you are welcome here.
Be kind, be brave, have faith! : ) Linda
