Hummingbird moments

Freezing bits of time, plus my weekly shareables: Buffets are back, the world's ugliest dog, and a two-handed bowler rocks the pins

Little miracles, flying all around us. (Photo by James Wainscoat on Unsplash)

We ordered takeout the other night and, when the “driver approaching” text came, I stepped out on the porch. The driver pulled up and I stood at the top step to wait for him and just then a fat green hummingbird swooped in front of me and hovered over a pot of red geraniums.

It was probably wondering where the hell our hummingbird feeder was. We took it down because it was leaking and I haven’t bought a new one yet. When we have one up we tend to have a bird stop by every few minutes when we’re out on the porch. But I don’t think I’ve seen one that big before.

Well, maybe one other time.

Years ago, we were visiting Alix’s parents at their house on a ridge in East Tennessee. I went out on their deck to get some fresh air. I happened to be wearing a red shirt. I was sitting there by myself when a huge hummingbird came out of the trees and hung in the air a couple feet away. It must have dreamed of running across a meal like me someday. It flitted back and forth for what felt like a minute or two, and I could almost hear its thoughts: Food? Not food? Food? Not food?

Not food, it finally decided, and darted away.

Sometimes I think all it takes to have amazing moments in your life is to put yourself in interesting places, and pay attention when you’re there. That’s why we put out hummingbird feeders in the first place, right? It ain’t just for the hummingbirds. It’s for the hummingbird moments.

I sat here just now and tried to remember what the delivery guy brought us for supper that night. It took me a good half a minute. But that hummingbird … I’ll be remembering that a long time. It wasn’t a big moment. But put enough of them together and you end up with a big life.

10 things I wanted to share this week:

1. I’ve mentioned Alex Edelman here before … his show JUST FOR US is now on Broadway, which is an amazing thing (and a must-see if you’re up New York way). He was kind enough to give THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM a shoutout in a Q&A with Adrienne LaFrance of The Atlantic. Read the Q&A and this next sentence will make sense: I would love to hear Alex’s fat jokes.

2. My weekly for WFAE was about the real scandal in the North Carolina legislature—and it wasn’t the one about sex.

3. I’m a sucker for bowling stories, so I ate up this Eric Wills piece on the man who broke bowling by rolling the ball with a two-handed grip. (GQ)

4. And if you loved that bowling story, you must read Michael J. Mooney’s classic on the bowler who glimpsed ultimate perfection. (D Magazine)

5. DOG NEWS: While I work on my book, I’m devoting this slot to dog stories. This week: Meet Scooter, the newly crowned World’s Ugliest Dog. (We will stipulate, for the record, that there is really no such thing as an ugly dog.) (NYT)

6. I haven’t been to a buffet in a minute, but the great Kim Severson says they’re back. Makes me long for the great Jones Kitchen in Jesup, GA. (NYT)

7. Always love to plow through Garden & Gun’s Big Southern Summer Reading List.

8. Really interested in John McPhee’s upcoming TABULA RASA, about the stories he never quite got around to finishing, and why.

9. Alix read a review of INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY in the paper this morning. It was … not flattering. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’re seeing it anyway.” That’s the spirit!
   

10. This week the YouTube algorithm kicked up a recent concert video of Guns N’ Roses doing “Paradise City,” and it was … not great. But it did make me go back and listen to the original, which is still awesome. And a great song for a Friday.
    

    See y’all next week, everybody.