Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 3 degrees, cold, overcast and damp.
Yesterday, I bought a bird feeder, a small upright tower that can be hung from anywhere in the garden.
I decided to hang it from the clothesline, about halfway along, with the prop away from the feeder so that the birds can come and go freely without anything in the way.
Obviously, I had filled the feeder with bird seed before; it was just a matter of opening the kind of strap and lid at the top of the feeder and closing the strap around the clothesline. I also put two clothes pegs to secure it in place so it doesn’t slide open and down the line when it’s windy.
It’s amusing how the birds are so wary of the new contraption in the garden. They fly in and out, stopping for just a second or even a millisecond, without eating, to check if it’s safe, and it isn’t a trap. Gradually, they became more confident and trusted it, pausing to look around and then eating for a short time.
I’ve already decided that I’m going to buy another feeder; one isn’t enough. Let’s have two, three, or even four feeders, filling the garden with birds coming and going from all directions at all times. It’s a pleasure for the eyes to watch them come and go from the living room.
Once, I visited Mendes, a small village in the countryside of Rio state, with Denise, my girlfriend at the time. She had friends in a nearby town, and we visited them for the weekend. On Sunday, we all went to Mendes to experience Chorinho, a traditional Brazilian dance music, in the village square.
This event occurs every Sunday morning until lunchtime. With all the drinking, dancing, and genuinely soaking up the good music from the band, we were prepared to enjoy a good lunch afterwards.
Our local friends decided to take us to ‘Fazenda Alemao’, which means ‘German farm’ in English. It is a farm and restaurant in the middle of nowhere, specialising in both Brazilian and German food. It took around 20 to 30 minutes to get there, passing through narrow lanes lined with trees, fields, and farmland on either side. It truly was in the middle of nowhere; only a local would know.
The restaurant was founded by a German-Brazilian couple over 40 or 50 years ago. The wife, a Baiana from the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil, like my second ex-wife, who is also an excellent cook, is part of their cultural background. The husband, of German descent, is a farmer who manages and produces the farm’s crops and ingredients. Consequently, much of the food served at the restaurant likely comes directly from their farm.
The restaurant was quite large, with the back area resembling a typical eatery, while the front was just large open windows, offering an elevated view of the farm and the surrounding land and fields. The decor was very rustic, cosy, and charming. Throughout the restaurant, small bird feeders were strategically placed, similar to the one I had just bought and put in my mother’s garden. Still, these feeders were explicitly designed for hummingbirds.
When we sat down at a long table with benches instead of chairs, near but not directly in front of the windows, we realised why there were so many feeders.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a multitude of hummingbirds, after recognising that we were trustworthy, began to flit around in front of us, behind us, beside us, and so on, both to feed and to observe, and probably to display too. Essentially, it was a hummingbird highway, with their remarkable ability to fly swiftly and precisely, never causing a collision, never hitting us, and never creating congestion or confusion, a symphony of movement for our eyes.
As we sat on the long benches and table, facing the windows, chatting and joking, and eventually enjoying some delicious German food, our little feathered friends flew past us at lightning speed. I know I am repeating myself, but it truly is a feast for our eyes and our senses.
That truly impressed me; perhaps I want to do the same in my mother’s back garden. Just one hummingbird is enough to make me happy and satisfied—any more would be a bonus!!!
I exercised in the drizzle in the morning, did some shopping for my mother in the rain, had a tea at the simple cafe, and attended classes for most of the day. I’m still feeling a little down about what is happening in Brazil. What can I do?
In bed by 11:00 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
