Last year Mike and I were strolling down the hill to visit our beach when we spied, attached to a slender twig right next to the trail, a tiny grass cup studded with sea green lichen. It was a hummingbird's nest and we assumed it was old and empty, but when we peered inside there were two eggs the size of Chiclets. We immediately removed ourselves from the area and kept watch from a distance as the eggs hatched and the babies grew. Mike was lucky enough to go down with the camera on the day the little birds fledged and get this picture before they flew away.
We have been slogging through the endless details involved with finishing our house. Well, really, Mike handles the endless details and I come home from work and say "Is that all that got done today?" We are aiming for the last week in May to move in and the time is getting very short. The main hold up is the finish carpentry, which is taking forever. We can't move anything into a room that still needs floor or ceiling molding and most of the rooms do. Windows are being framed beautifully, but ... slowly. We can't push the stove into place because the gas terminal behind it is too high and sticks out too far. The panels for the front of the fridge don't fit and must be remade. The interior doors have yet to arrive. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Now that the time is almost upon us I have been remembering what it was like when we first moved here permanently. Mike's health wasn't good and we decided we had to shed one of our houses. This was the place we really loved, so we rather suddenly sold our big suburban house, put everything in storage and settled into our problematic paradise. As the door rolled down over the packed storage unit I wondered how long it would be until I saw my stuff again. Answer: five years. Now a new house stands almost ready and I marvel at what we have brought into being. My old life is about to pour out upon me and I must winnow and choose what I want to bring forward and what I no longer need. This is a daunting prospect, but underneath it all I know I have been so lucky. When I'm not complaining I'm full of wonder and gratitude.