It’s a perfect spring day here. I took advantage of the unexpected sun to mow the lawn, after cleaning up a winter’s worth of twigs. The twigs await cutting to suit use as kindling.

As I finished the lawn, I heard an insistent and repeated chirt sound. A ruby-throated hummingbird was perched in a neighbor’s still-leafless tree, declaiming his territory. As he called, he would flare his ruff. When he turned to face me and called his head blazed with light.