I had to make a quick trip to the doc today. Sunday, my right eye developed a problem. Well…actually, it started with the skin around the outer corner of my eye. It felt abraded and stung if you touched it. By Monday morning, my eyelid was puffy. Now, the good thing about this was that it got me out of a visit to the dentist. She has a policy about colds, etc. If you’re coming down with something, you’re supposed to reschedule. So, I called, and they moved me to next week.
The doctor’s office was able to schedule me to see the newest member of the practice this morning, and she decided that I had a virus. I’m doing the two eye drops every two hours routine, and antibiotics for ten days. My eye is already feeling better. I was sure that it was an allergic reaction to something that flew into my face when I was weed eating on Sunday, but it seems the doc may have known better.
So, what does this have to do with Audubon? There weren’t many non-parenting magazines in the doctor’s office. I settled on the October issue of Audubon. I wish I could remember all I read. It was fascinating! I’ll have to see if there are still any issues at Borders.
Did you know that a resting hummingbird’s heart beats 250 times a minute? More astounding than that is the fact that when in flight their hearts beat up to 1200 times a minute! A group of volunteers are banding hummingbirds in the US. There are over 300 varieties of this species, but only 20 or so migrate up into the United States from Central America and Mexico. It seems that those birds return to the same gardens every summer. I can’t imagine the job of banding a hummingbird. I don’t think my hands would be gentle enough.
Habitat seems to be the subject that is on everyone’s minds. The hummingbirds are loosing the habitat they need as they migrate back and forth. They are having to depend on gardens and landscaping around homes to replace their natural habitat. The Florida panther is loosing it’s habitat, and there are now just 100 of them left. The raccoons here, have lost their habitat, and have adapted by trying to become house pets.
While we consider blacktopping over huge parts of the world, maybe we need to listen to the world around us, and see what we will loose. I understand the concerns of loggers, and farmers, and construction crews, but we have an obligation to be good caretakers of the Earth. If we disregard Nature around us, we could kill off species that hold the keys to our future. We need to find ways to co-exist. Maybe the hummingbirds can lead the way.
Alright, everyone. Next spring I expect each of you to plant trumpet vine for the humming birds!