It all began with the hummingbirds, sir.
Yes, Mr. Grant, I’m serious. I awoke in plenty of time to get to work by 8:30, but as I got out of bed, I heard a noise outside and peered out my window.
No, not my boyfriend’s window. I was home. I have a hummingbird feeder located right outside my bedroom window, and the hummers come every early morning and then at dusk.
I’m trying to tell you what this has to do with the fact that I was two hours late, sir, I am getting to the story.
Anyway, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I stared at the feeder through the screen of my window. Two little fairies, the size of hummers, were sitting on the red feeder dish and talking. Their voices were high-pitched, obviously, and spoke in a language I didn’t understand, but they were definitely having a conversation.
You’re rolling your eyes, Mr. Grant, but the reason I’m late truly has everything to do with these fairies. And no, I’m not being disrespectful, sir. Yes, I know we have a strong anti-discrimination policy in this company. I’m talking about real to goodness Fairies – the kind we grew up on, you know, FAIRY Tales. These little creatures were tiny with wings like hummers, but they wore florescent green outfits, sort of like a Catholic girl’s get-up except the skirts were short and the caps were black.
Yes, my fairies wore caps.
I don’t know if they had hair, Mr. Grant. I didn’t notice that. Are you making fun of my story? Go on, you say? Okay.
Well, then, they flitted, these two fairies, from the hummingbird feeder to my deck. I pulled on a pair of shorts and T-shirt and quietly, quietly, opened the deck door. They didn’t fly away. In fact, I think they were waiting for me.
What? I’m FIRED? Are you kidding me? You don’t know the rest of the story. That’s not fair! Make it quick? Fine. They flew into the woods behind my house. I followed them. Through some kind of vine portal, and then.
A portal, not a PORT HOLE. You think I’ve dug a hole for myself? But wait until I tell you where the fairies took me! You’re sending me where? HR for Psyche consultation? Well, you can’t fire me then, Mr. G. That would be psychic discrimination.
No, I’m not kidding. That’s what the fairies told me to say!
A good one! I loved the Mary Tyler Moore Show and I could just see this conversation happening too. xo
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I had such a fun (and easy) time imagining this conversation. And I haven’t seen the MTM show in a lot of years! But how iconic it was. xo
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😘
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Fun
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Just look out for the vine portal, Derrick! 🙂
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🙂
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Hahaha. You know, of course, I heard this whole story in MTM’s voice. 😏
It’s so much fun to see hummingbirds. We couldn’t keep up with keeping our feeders filled, and we never saw any hummingbirds at them, so we gave them up.
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So did I!!
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😀
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😀
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LOL! I think I remember this episode. 🙂 Thanks for the great memories of one of my favorite shows. xo
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Keep your eyes on your feeders, Jill.
Who knows what you’ll see?
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I think I should’ve been a screen writer for the Mary Tyler Moore show, Jill. Don’t you? Although I’ll say back in the day when I watched it I didn’t know anything about hummingbirds. 😀
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Haha! Discrimination indeed. A fun story to read, Pam.
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I think we all should look out for that psychic discrimination! 😀 Thanks for enjoying.
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👌
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I love this whole tale in Mary’s voice
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And Mary had such a distinctive voice, Beth. Miss the actress and miss the characters that she played so well. 💖
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Hilarious! I could hear her voice in my head.
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Mary seemed to help me write this dialogue, Arlene! 😁
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Fun post! I could hear Mary and Mr. Grant talking. Thanks for a great start to my Friday!
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What a great combination they were, Mr. Grant and Mary Richardson. Writing this brought me back to that great show. Thanks Amy. XO
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Such a fun loving story, Pam and I love these little fairies and they are so captivating. Great post.
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I feel blessed when the little hummingbird fairies come visit me every day. And obviously they inspire me! 💚
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So nice to hear that Pam. Little Angels I would say.
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This story with the puns – so FUN! I wish I could attract hummingbird “fairies” as you have. My feeder is stocked with sweet nectar, but I haven’t been able to capture a shot like yours. I’d be envious if I didn’t like you so much – ha!
Here’s to the joys of the Mary Tyler Moore show, hummingbirds, and the magic of storytelling. Have a wonderful weekend, Pam.
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We had so many hummingbirds visit us and our feeder in the San Francisco Bay area I was amazed when they followed us here in the Boston area. They seem, quite comfortable here on our feeder and on our flowers during the summer, but in early May and late September I can see them shivering as they drink up that sweet nectar. 🧚♀️😏
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I would love to wake up to these amazing birds Pam, and love your tale of why you were late. I think the magic of watching these tiny magical birds would have me flying through the portal into the fairy realms daily.
Lovely video capture.
Enjoy your flight into the weekend 😉💓🙏 much love.
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The hummingbirds seem used to seeing my face right up against the bedroom window watching them at the feeder, which is only about a foot away from the screen. Perhaps they are just as curious of me as I am of them! And I agree with you, I would follow them in a vine portal to anywhere. 🌈
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🙂😘🧡
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Haha very clever Pam. Loved how you wove in the conversation without the boss actually speaking. hummingbirds really do seem magical.
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I think hummingbirds come from a magic realm that we could only get to if we found that vine portal that Mary talks of here. 😉 I’m guessing hummingbirds don’t get as far north as where you are.
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Pam they actually do! Not tons of them but if one puts out a feeder in rural areas or small towns they seem to find it.
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That’s amazing! And wonderful!!!
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Delightful story Pam. I could almost see Mary having that conversation with Mr. Grant. You have a vivid imagination 🧚 and beautiful visitors. Enjoy! 😍
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I have not seen the Mary Tyler Moore show in such a long time, Brad, so I was amazed how this dialogue came so quickly to me. Tells us what a great show it was! The hummers inspire me of course every day. 😍
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Thank goodness for hummers, laughter, flowers, and other marvels of nature. 😍
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🙏💙🙏💙
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What a cute story, Pam. Here you are in the realm of fantasy again. Lol. I love your little hummers. They’re such fun visitors. Psychic discrimination? Ha ha. I don’t know if Mary will get away with that one!
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I’m sitting on the porch reading your comment and smiling. As I’m sitting here responding to comments about my hummingbird story, two of them came flying all around me. Turns out I have a beautiful red geranium plant sitting next to my rocking chair and they just love sucking up the flower’s nectar. How cool is that? Hope you are having a great weekend and that all is OK with your parents. 💜
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We’re smoky, Pam, but hoping for rain this week. Otherwise all is well. I’m glad you’re smiling! 🙂
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It would appear we all read this, hearing Mary’s voice!
This was a delightful read, Pam.
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Maybe it’s scary and maybe it’s lucky, but Mary‘s voice came right into my head as I wrote the story. It was a lot of fun! Thank you Dale! 💖
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Loved it!
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Oh, Pam! I love it! Still laughing.
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I’m smiling at you laughing at my Mary and Mr. Grant story. Thanks so much! 🤩🌸❤️
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What an entertaining story today! I enjoyed that you shared it through Mary and Lou’s perspective — one of my favorite shows. FUN!
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The Mary Tyler Moore show was one of my favorites also. It was fun to imagine Mary and Lou spatting about hummingbirds! 😀
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Lovely story, I’m almost humming with happiness myself!
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I so love the sound of the Hummers wings when she gets near to me. Can’t reproduce it in any way but the buzzing in my ear as I sit on the front porch lets me know she’s coming around to say hi. 🧚🏻♂️💜
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Love those fairy tale excuses for being late. I’m sure the boss would be enchanted. 🙂
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Your puns are magical, Balroop! 🥰 xoxoxo
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I heard the story in Mary’s voice. I love psychic discrimination:)
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I never thought of it before Mary brought it up in my mind in the story. But I think psychic discrimination goes on every day! 🤨😉
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I agree.
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Terrific story, Pam. Have a great weekend.
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I hope you’re having a great weekend also Robbie. It’s beautiful here in September. Do you get hummingbirds near your home once summer returns?
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No, we don’t have hummingbirds here in South Africa. We have weaver birds, loeries, hadedahs, and many others though. Our birds tend to be big and bold, like our animals.
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Your birds sound beautiful and exotic. 💙
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Love this for several reasons: first, I have a Hummingbird feeder outside our kitchen window and it always makes me smile to see them frolicking and bellying up to the bar! Second, I shared this story about Mary Tyler Moore’s career, and a fantastic book about the creation of her namesake show…finally, a reason I can’t share yet, but it does indeed involve Mr. Grant and is happening soon! https://johnrieber.com/2017/01/25/rip-mary-tyler-moore-brilliant-entertainer-broke-tv-barriers/
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Thanks for the link John. I really enjoyed reading about that magnificent show. We get hummingbirds here from early May until late this month and yes they bring smiles to my face every time I look out the window. When I sit out in the front porch sometimes one even comes within two arms length of me and flaps her wings and winks.
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Yes I love that they are fearless at some point…it seems they come to trust us!
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Since I only infrequently watched the ‘show’, I’m flying in to see you my ‘Psych’, Dr. Hoagy Bovine…you will like him – he’s a fairy with a big nose and gentle heart!
(Hey, I don’t know! It just came to me!) 🙂
(Probably part of the ‘aging process’!)
From the ‘wilting Warrior’!
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There’s no way you can be a wilting Warrior writer, Billy Ray. Your perfusion of books is so impressive! Hope you are feeling well this beautiful weekend. Maybe a hummingbird will come visit. If she does know that I have sent her to you. XO
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So beautiful! I love ‘humming bird’ – wrote about one in a post some months back. Thanks, WP, I’ll be watching!
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Send me the link. For some reason or other I have a hard time getting into your blog.
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Hi, Pam, WP,
Just finished doing a new WordPress blog/website: https://www.brchitwood.com
I’ve written nearly 400 posts over the years, and I’ve spent this Sunday afternoon looking for the ‘Humming Bird’ post and couldn’t find it… the H/B in question hit a window in our living room just off the outside deck and dropped to a deck table, stunned… It was still alive, and I went out and sat with it for a time, picked it up and gently rubbed its body, dropped a few tears (I’m hopelessly distressed when any bird hits our windows!) … I said some silly maudlin phrases, and, after some thirty minutes or so we stared at each other and it flew away It was amazing, the love I felt, the relief, as it flew away – and, guess what, I’m thinking it was the same hummingbird, flew back to that window, stopped, did its little ‘flutter dance’ on several days, and I read those incidents as any poet would read it – thrilled and a bit closer to our Maker…
The blog said pretty much what I’ve said here, a bit more dramatic, perhaps…
Go to brchitwood.com – my books, all the posts are on there, and, you might run into it at some point. Let me know if you continue having trouble with my domain site (you should not need the sub-heading – ‘Books and Writing of BR Chitwood’). Sorry I couldn’t find the post, dear lady.
You and yours have a wonderful week ahead.
With fondness,
Billy Ray
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What a beautiful Hummingbird story. I followed you in every word and action. YES, I do feel that these birds-of-flight connect with us, and I think your hummer was thanking you with gratefulness. This summer a hummer stopped and twirled/danced in front of me for minutes at a time almost every early morning – we stared at each other eye to eye, only inches apart. An amazing experience. Thanks for your link – I’ve had a great time reading your latest posts! ❤
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Love this! Was laughing as I read it. I love fairies and hummingbirds too, wrote a story about them the other week. 🙂
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We can’t go wrong when we write stories about hummingbirds and fairies!! 🧚♀️👍💙
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Good one! ❤ xo
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Ahh, the good ole shows still stay with us. 💙
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Fun story! Like others, I read the whole thing in Mary’s voice.
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GOOD! Because I certainly wrote this in Mary‘s voice. She was such a wonderful woman and role model for many of us. 🧡
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I enjoyed this, Pamela. Good one.
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So much fun to write with Mary and Lou in an iconic conversation. 😀
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Of course Mary would follow the fairies. Who wouldn’t other than Mr. Grant, the old curmudgeon. That was such a fun show. Loved every character there. And they were characters. 😉 Thanks for this. A real bright spot in the day.
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Back in the day, Mary used to brighten us one evening a week, didn’t she? I feel badly for all the people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who don’t know what the heck I’m talking (writing) about, but hopefully they got a taste of Mary and Lou by their hummingbird conversation here. 😉Thank you so much for your comment!
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It’s FRIDAY and here’s another totally unexpected and unpredictable story from one of my favorite bloggers of all time! Thanks, Mary…errr, Pam. 💗😁💗
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Awww, you are the bestest of the best blogging friends. To be honest, I never know what to expect from my writing self either. It was nice to have Mary visit me as I began writing this post, for sure. 😅
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Cute story. I saw a hummingbird for the first time in my life this summer. It actually spooked me at first, because I thought it was a fairy. Maybe it was one of yours. 😉
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I sent Cindy Lou over to you, Lori. I am glad you enjoyed her fairy-whisperings in your ear. 🧚♀️ 💚
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Brilliant! I absolutely loved this!
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Thanks so much Donna. Boy it was fun to write in Mary’s voice. While watching the hummingbirds outside my bedroom window of course. 🥰
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I loved that show, and yes, I can almost imagine them having that conversation. Lou Grant (Ed Asner) was perfect in that role.
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When you think about it, each actor was perfect for the role they played in that show. Makes me nostalgic for really good TV comedy shows. Makes me wish I was a screenwriter back then for the Mary Tyler Moore show! 😀
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Glad the fairies reminded Mary of the anti-psychic discrimination laws! Fun story. Thanks, Pam.
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Haha- don’t you love it! I think we need anti-psychic discrimination laws in this world right now!
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Love it! Did you know windows on sailboats are called portholes? 🙂
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I do know that Liesbet. But I don’t think Lou Grant did. I am realizing you may never have seen the Mary Tyler Moore show! I think that should be on your list of “to do’s.” Taken into context, you can see how that show gave women the right to their own minds and decisions – and thus was ahead of its time in wonderful ways. 💜
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-giggles- ‘psychic discrimination’!!!! Love it. 🙂
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I wonder where the heck I get some of this stuff. But I have to admit- “psychic discrimination” is one of my betters 🙂🙃🤣
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You really do have a way with short stories. It’s actually an art form that uses the reader’s own imagination to best effect. Word choices and quirky phrases are triggers, imho. 😀
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xo
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That truly sounded like a real conversation. Kudos!
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It truly was a real conversation – in my head. Isn’t that fun? 😄
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Such a great post!
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So glad you enjoyed! May you have a hummingbird kind of day.
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Pam , you had my laughing because I could here MTM’s voice saying this to Mr. Grant. You were perfect! Besides, I enjoy hummingbirds, too! Hope all is well. 🙂
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Thank you so much for your kudos. All is well, Frank. And adding humor and nostalgia and hummingbirds in our lives helps the world seem bright and sane. 🙏💙
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Hi Pam – a fun story! I saw my first hummingbird in our yard this week. Came right to the window. We don’t have a hummingbird feeder, but I planted a bunch of “four o’clocks” and this little bird must have been looking for them 🙂
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Well Barbara, I love to think that the hummingbird who visited you was migrating from my Boston home to you and your flowers and on down south for the winter. It is such a lift to view one of these fairy creatures. I have to look into the 4 o’clock flower. Maybe I’ll get some for next year!
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My gardening expert at work told me you can only buy seeds for the four o’clocks. I grabbed them at the grocery store. By the way, they don’t bloom at 4:00 here. It’s more a morning bloom!
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Aha! Good to know. Now, why the heck are they called “four o’clocks”???
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Haha – one time I went out right at 4:00 to check and the blooms were all closed up. Then one morning I was randomly in the yard and saw they were in full bloom. Kind of like morning glories!
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A very creative excuse Pam! I don’t get the MTM references I’m afraid but it was funny all the same 🙂
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Sorry about that Andrea. I guess you never saw the Mary Tyler Moore show, which was an American comedy that featured a woman in the ‘70s and ‘80s who made a stand to be independent and not totally rely on a man. It was a great way to stress feminism without getting people all upset. Mary‘s boss, Lou, kept on trying to intimidate her, and she never let him. Glad you enjoyed the conversation here even though you never knew Mary. 😉
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Made me grin!
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Terrific! We all need a reason to grin these days. xo 🙂
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Fortunately there are employment tribunals these days. Maybe the fairies can give evidence on your behalf.
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Good point, Roy “We’ve come a long way, baby.” 🙂 Hope you’re well and running for FUN. Look forward to your next post…whenever it comes.
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I felt like I was totally listening to Mary Richards. Well done. And love the hummers! 🙂 xx
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Can’t believe how late I am in seeing your comment here. Well all of our hummers are now gone to points south, and I think you and I wish we could be too. 😏
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You were so good in writing this story,, Pam, and it was so so funny. Yes, you should have been a screen writer for the show, or for any show. I love you hummers video. I should take some of my hummers also. The papa bird died a couple weeks ago, of old age? From the first photo I took of him until a couple weeks ago, he would have been 4+ years old and that was average for a hummingbird. The female bird and the two years old baby are still here. They are the resident in my garden. 🙂
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Awww, rest in peace Papa hummer. I would guess instead of 7/1 (dog/human life years) a hummers is 25/1 (hummer/human life span), considering how fast they flit those wings day after day. Enjoy your resident hummers – you are so lucky!
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I was so sad when hubby told me Papa hummer was laying on the grass. Anyway, one oldest hummer seen and recorded was 12 years old.
The baby stays around all the time, hasn’t flown too much. I hope he lives longer.
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Hope so! ❤
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Me too!<3
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A magical story about a magical bird. I love the little humming birds that visit the plants that I grow just for them and the butterflies. I don’t put up feeders for fear that I might forget to change the solution every two days. It is just much easier, for me to plant things that will attract them. In my past of Texas, there us the Ruby throated and the Black chinned hummers but further south and west there are several species of hummers- in the Rio Grande valley, the Davis mountains and the Big Bend area of Texas.
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Hi! So nice to see your here. I think your flowers are a delicious nectar for your hummers. They probably think you’re just as magical as they are. xo
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Love itttt. My brother Tom once overslept on a weekday after a night out with friends. With no clean laundry, he was forced to *overdress*, and arrived very late for work. His boss noticed, and asked him out to lunch… So my brother prepared himself for the ax. However, his boss mistook the formal attire and tardiness for what could only be a 9 a.m. job interview elsewhere! He promptly, “convinced” Tom to stay with the company by giving him a promotion and a raise. Another example of truth being stranger than fiction.
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I am laughing early on this Thursday morning at your story. Take a gift when it’s handed to you even if it seems a strange reason why. 😁Thank you for sharing this-it’s great!
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OMG! What an awesome story!!
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Being late for work can have unexpected consequences!!! xo
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