Dear Reader:

 I bought this book by Steven Johnson (How we Got to Now) after watching several of his programs on television and finding him fascinating….lots of history and interesting facts that one never learned in a school history book.

The one that caught my imagination was the strange adaptation of the hummingbird to survive in a changing world. He explains in this excerpt: The Hummingbird Effect.

How new ideas surprise us:

THIS IS HOW CHANGE happens in the natural world: sometime during the Cretaceous age, flowers began to evolve colors and scents that signaled the presence of pollen to insects, who simultaneously evolved complex equipment to extract the pollen and, inadvertently, fertilize other flowers with pollen.

Over time, the flowers supplemented the pollen with even more energy-rich nectar to lure the insects into the rituals of pollination. Bees and other insects evolved the sensory tools to see and be drawn to flowers, just as the flowers evolved the properties that attract bees.

The symbiosis between flowering plants and insects that led to the production of nectar ultimately created an opportunity for much larger organisms — the hummingbirds — to extract nectar from plants, though to do that they evolved an extremely unusual form of flight mechanics that enable them to hover alongside the flower in a way that few birds can even come close to doing. In other words, they had to learn an entirely new way to fly.

Insects can stabilize themselves mid-flight because they have fundamental flexibility to their anatomy that vertebrates lack. Yet despite the restrictions placed on them by their skeletal structure, hummingbirds evolved a novel way of rotating their wings, giving power to the upstroke as well as the downstroke, enabling them to float mid-air while extracting nectar from a flower.

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Just as Johnson was able to successfully play the “dot to dot” game in uncovering the hummingbirds’ unique flying techniques in order to survive….I played a “dot to dot” game to make this connection from Christmas to hummingbirds myself.

Brooke told me that one thing she wanted us to do as a mini-project while we were in NYC was to send a Christmas card to a little girl who was terribly burned (90% of her body) in an accident (the incident killed her parents) and who now lives with an aunt as she continues undergoing more surgeries to repair her damaged skin.

The child wrote that she wanted to decorate her room with Christmas cards from well-wishers…it would encourage her and her aunt during the holidays. Brooke and I found a card that had an ornament inside so she could use both the card and cardboard ornament on her walls. The card was a Papyrus card whose symbol is the hummingbird. There is a little message inside each that reads:

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying out hopes for love, joy, and celebration. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.

That beautiful little message, along with the hummingbird’s desire to change (quite drastically) to improve its life, as well as, enjoying the sweet “nectar of life” touched me. If a little hummingbird is willing to re-learn how to fly completely differently than its ancestors for years prior to this change…don’t you think this is a lesson for us humans.

If you would like to send a Christmas card too….here is the child’s name in case you have trouble reding it off the card: Sa’fyre Terry

Think about the people who successfully ‘rode’ out the hard recession our country underwent only a few years ago….the people who made it and turned their lives around had to sometimes completely re-learn a new trade or even dig down deep and use their creative juices to become entrepreneurs in a new world of self-discovery. They became hummingbirds.

So until tomorrow…as Christmas quickly approaches…let us all be open to change, not stuck in old traditions, but willing to incorporate new ideas and acceptance of all different kinds of love in our every-changing world for, not only Christmas, but every day of the year..We need to stay open for God’s grace.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Just received an email from Anne with this title: Serendipity Strikes Again. She had supper with a neighbor (Shirley) last night and this is the card she got from her….a double “Wink”….(Anne’s maiden name is Driscoll.)

I was SO prepped for your blog today.  Look what Shirley gave me LAST NIGHT. And note the artist’s name: O’Driscoll. LOVE when this happens!

*As I was cleaning out dead stems, branches, and pine cones from the garden yesterday I saw a lone yellow butterfly who seemed somewhat confused…at one point it even landed on my shoulder as if asking “What happened…yesterday it was summer and all my pals were here…today the wind is chilly and everyone is gone….where do I go?”

Don’t you know that God’s creatures must be confused…they don’t have the luxury of understanding the laws of nature with El Nino in the driver’s seat? I just hope the little fella found some family to hang with during the cold night last evening.

I added some wreaths to the white picket fences in the garden….to give it a more ‘Christmasy” look.

*I need to leave the house more often….it seems like just about every time I do…I come home to another surcie. My neighbor, down the street, Julie Hucks, left this beautiful angel chime on my door…I put it on the moon gate….I can hear the chimes in the wind (and it was windy yesterday)…they sound like church bells to me…and the sound lures me to sleep. Thank you Julie!!!

*Please keep Veronica Sauls in your prayers….Veronica is Brooke’s daughter-in-love (Riley’s wife.) They were supposed to come this weekend to have an early Christmas with Brooke and Ted since they will be at her family’s for the holidays. Veronica is due the middle of January (their first child) and has been pretty exhausted at this stage…but now she has strep throat, ear infection, and congestion. She is miserable. I know Veronica would appreciate the spiritual support from prayers while the med’s kick in hopefully. Thank you.!

*Also Sis Kinney would like prayers for her sister in law (Marilyn)  who has just gone through surgery for breast cancer. Medical problems magnify around the holidays emotionally…don’t they? Thanks for the spiritual support!