A few came to say so long

Saturday, August 13th. It's been a hot, smokey day on the meadow with forest fires just south of us and strong winds. We've had 6 hard frosts this month. Thankfully our garden is mostly contained in a greenhouse. The hummingbirds arrived on April 26th this year. For the past months we've had probably 30 hummers with us every day - dancing and drinking at the window, sipping on the flowers in the little garden below the kitchen window, hanging out on the fence and in the trees that David planted by the house in May this year ... This morning our wee feathered friends were conspicuous by their absence. Doing the breakfast dishes today I was struck with the sad realization that the hummingbirds had gone. David came into the kitchen from his workshop and we were comisserating when one, two, three little hummers appeared at the window as if to say 'so long'. We refilled the feeders with some high test sugar water for those who lingered and still had the long journey ahead of them. Still, it was a quiet day at the kitchen window. This time last year it began to rain and didn't let up for weeks.