Benny is Back & Hummingbirds Sing

Benny, our 2nd generation white bunny rabbit was out of the back yard the other day.  After considerable effort, we managed to catch him and put him back in the back where he belongs, only for him to escape again the next day when Daddy had the fence block removed to work on his boat.  This time, we let him roam a little and, by the next day, he was nowhere in sight.  He's a rabbit though, and they are not known for their loyalty.  This morning, however, he was back nibbling the sweet potato leaves by the garden.  Not having seen him, I had put out an unused garbage can on it's side filled with hay and some rabbit feed.  I moved it to where he was.  He thanked me in his sort of way by exploring the side-ways can and eating the feed for a mid-morning snack.  I realized he was likely thirsty and put some water out by his food.  He made some space between us as I walked up to his new garden home, so I set the water down and then sat a little ways off to watch him return and explore the new digs.  As I sat I watched the side yard in the morning.  There are so many noises in our world, cars and radios and lawn mowers and phone calls, that we hardly notice how noisy mother nature is herself.  As I watched a brown thrasher preen above me, dropping her downy feathers breezily floating to my feet, the carolina wren sang her mighty little song in the evergreens beside the oak.  The mother hawk screeched loudly across the street.  Benny stood up on his hind legs, ears perked.  He knows to look out for that sound.  The blue jays, chasing one another, squawked and quarreled as they always do, "Get off my branch!," "This is MY branch," "No it's mine; I was here first!"  And when the blue jays had settled their argument and the woodpeckers had alighted in the far off sweet gum top, I realized that a not-so-tiny chirping from the garden was the scratchy song of a hummingbird, then two hummingbirds, conversing with one another, perhaps telling each other the location of the sweetest nectar this morning.  I would have been perfectly happy sitting and watching them all the whole morning.  But alas, this is a world of toil and I must get to it.  But I'm glad to see Benny and delighted to know the sound of a hummingbird song.