Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Steve’s Bird Of The Day #59.
Hi everyone and welcome back to part 2 of our look at the “ruby-throated hummingbird”. Yesterday we saw the male and today in the above pic is the female. She does not have the ruby colored throat but instead it’s a grayish white like her chest and stomach area. She arrives a little later than the male and when she arrives he puts on a very elaborate dance in the air courtship display and if she accepts him, they mate and he leaves. She then selects a nesting site and constructs a tiny nest on top of a sturdy branch and makes it look like just a bump on the branch. She uses spider web and plant down to construct the nest and secures it to the branch with sticky spider silk. Then she attaches lichen to the outside of the nest to camouflage it. She uses her body to smoothly shape the interior of the nest and lays 1 to 3 eggs. She leaves the nest only for brief periods to feed. Hummingbirds eat the nectar from flowers and they prefer flowers that are red or orange, then pink or yellow and generally prefer tubular flowers for feeding. They are easily attracted to feeders like the one shown in my pics. They also eat a large number of small insects including mosquitoes and spiders as well. An important early season food source for them is the sap from trees provided by the sapsuckers. They will often follow a sapsucker around to find all the feeding spots. We are at the northernmost range for the ruby-throated hummingbird in this area.
I hope you have enjoyed our little look at this fascinating tiny bird. Have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. Nowhere. Chapter 12.
We continued sitting in the library. “Okay Steve,” said Baldwin, “it’s settled, you are staying here, and you two cats stay with him at all times, both of you, so wherever Steve goes, you go with him, you’re his guards. Lena, you stay with Steve as much as possible. I know this Pete and his wife Coral, he had been working on a way to control people, with drugs and a probe. Although he would never say, but apparently his first 3 attempts were not successful, but it looks like he has been able to make it work. And you’re his new subject. He wants you to do something, and my guess is he wants you to kill someone, but it won’t be someone random, it’s someone specific. And a gun is the cue, that is what will cause you to finally kill the person you are programmed to kill.”
The cats ears went straight up and they looked at each other. Meow,meow=Oh, we bad, we forget something so important because we worried about my human. Maybe we know who he kill. In backpack, top pocket is invitation for my human to meet with someone important very soon. Lena went over and checked the pocket. “Hey, look at this, very official if it’s real,” she said and handed the card to Baldwin. “It’s looks real enough,” he said, “and now we know who you are supposed to kill.” “Okay,” I said, “don’t keep me in suspense, who is it?” “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” he said, “let’s just keep this a secret for a few days. We need to get you ready for an important event. But I will check first to make sure this invitation is real.” And off he went.
We didn’t see him again for a few hours. I was nervous. Here I am, not knowing who I am or where I am, yet I’m going to kill someone important and I don’t know who that person is either. “What’s going to happen to me?”, I asked out loud though I was just more thinking it rather than asking a question. “You’ll be okay Steve,” said Lena, “we’ll get this figured out and get those people who did this to you. And I’m going to stay with you all the way Steve.” “And you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to Steve,” added Calanthe. Then we heard shots fired in the entry. The cats got ready. Lena took out her gun and Calanthe tossed me a gun too.
Two men showed up in the doorway already firing their weapons. “Thwock!”, and one was down. I fired 3 shots and the other was down. It all happened within seconds. Calanthe was hiding behind a chair. Lena was lying on the floor bleeding. Mr. Cat ran over to Muffin, she was also lying on the floor bleeding. I couldn’t move. I just stared. Pictures flashed. Scenes, buildings, Muffin, Trish laughing, Muffin bleeding a second time. Real? Or dreams? Baldwin’s guards came running in. I kept staring, not moving, I couldn’t move. I woke up in a nice bright room and slowly began to look around. Where was I? A woman was there, I should know her, but I don’t. She left the room and came back with a nurse. The nurse talked to me, I could hear words but they meant nothing. She left but the other woman stayed, held my hand and talked to me.
I didn’t understand what she was saying. A doctor came in and a big man. The woman went over to him, she was crying now. Then she went to a chair and sat down. The doctor was talking, but it was just jumbled words. It was all like a dream, it wasn’t real. What was going on anyway? Why am I here? It’s like I’m trapped. I’m here but I’m not, I can’t move. I keep trying to move but it’s useless. I have never felt like this in my life. I think hard, I can’t remember my life except in a dream, all of this is a dream. It must be. The woman goes to the big man and then leaves the room. I know her, and the big man, but who are they? The woman comes back. She’s holding a black and white cat and puts him on my bed. He comes over to me and hugs me. Meow?=Human Steve remember me? I’m Mr. Cat. “Mr. Cat?”, I said quietly. I move my arm and start petting Mr. Cat. He’s purring and… “Muffin!”, I call out.
To Be Continued.
Pictures of Mr. Cat are kindly supplied by his human, Nina. Previous chapters of this story and other stories can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.” and “20/20 Investigations, Inc.”
©2021 Steve McLeod.
