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- A single sunbeam spotlighted a towering pink zinnia, setting the stage for a vibrant nature spectacle.
- A push-pull nectar tussle unfolded between Francesca (butterfly) and Rupert (hummingbird), comedic and surprisingly fierce.
- Contrasting stakes: larger hummingbird fuels a 3,000-mile migration while the butterfly survives less than 14 days, urgency fueling the fray.
- Carol Veliotis savors the brief theatrical microcosm, imagining Jim Carrey and Susan Sarandon voices and applauding the nature show.
One day… last summer… I was sitting in my dining room, lost in thought, looking out the window. The backyard (my Paradise on Earth) is a 1,000 square- foot- rectangle, but with so much interesting beauty. A 4-foot-tall rock wall, running north-south, built in 1949 ( the honest- to- God- reason why I bought the house). Aged lichen-covered stones with a random pattern, this “great wall” is a unique feature in my small half- acre lot in town. It holds up a bank of ivy, oak-leaf hydrangeas and azaleas, small trees; a visual delight. When people see it for the first time; you can hear the ‘wow’ in their voices when they say, “look at that wall !” Only 3 blocks from the town square, yet I have seen cats, dogs, deer, possums, rabbits, owls, hawks, armadillos, racoons, foxes, and snakes in my modest backyard, over the course of 28 years. Of course, the standards: birds (my favorites!), chipmunks and squirrels (my nemesis!) It IS a bird sanctuary, with two bird feeders, two bird houses, two suet feeders, two birdbaths. Lots of trees and shrubs on outside edges, and a lot of flowers. There is an open (grass only) center area with a fountain of the Greek goddess Pigi, /pee/GHEE/= the source of all water. A small patio completes the sense of a private garden.
On this slightly overcast day, suddenly a single ray of sunshine was aimed so specifically at one flower, it was as if the lighting director in a play had shone a single beam on something to highlight it. The heavenly sunbeam- spotlight illuminated a huge sturdy pink zinnia, about three feet tall. She was the top bloom on a stalk of lesser blooms. It caught my eye and I kept staring at it, as pink is my favorite color, and it was electrifyingly HOT- sunlit- pink. I was soaking that in; as it was attention-grabbing, when… TAH… a magnificent yellow tiger swallowtail butterfly alighted on the blossom and began sucking nectar, softly moving its wings back and forth.
I thought “ what are my chances of getting to see that?” What a photo- op!… a note card!… a painting ! The colors were so vibrant. Let me grab my phone so I can take a picture of that! When suddenly… ZIP… a hummingbird came darting in from the right and pushed the butterfly out of the way! It forced the butterfly 2 feet to the left (stage left) and then the hummingbird began sucking on that same flower. Then seconds later the butterfly got ballsy and pushed the hummingbird out of the way and the hummingbird went off to the right (stage right) I think the hummingbird was stunned that a fragile butterfly had pushed it out of the way. But then the hummingbird pushed back and drove the butterfly away. This went on for a few push- pulls as I watched this ‘shoving match’ in nature. WHAT ?… are they saying to one another?
This is the exchange of dialogue which I imagined between them. Let’s call her Francesca and him Rupert, henceforth, for their personalities. A tiger swallowtail weighs about 0.3 grams and a hummingbird weighs about 4 grams. That means that he is 12 times bigger than her! A mismatched fight, as she is a featherweight and he is a welter weight. Gambling odds are on him.
Butterfly : “Buzz off, buster, I was here first: I discovered this flower. It’s MY flower. Plus, it’s a great photo op for my fans. I’m usually photographed on pink or purple blooms.”
Hummingbird: “ Nah, you had a turn already, it’s MY turn NOW !”
Francesca (patiently) : “I am a pollinator; the earth NEEDS me! I am a miracle of Nature!”
Rupert: “Well I am TOO-ooo ! Plus, I am EXTREMELY popular, hmmmm, so there !”
Francesca : “If there were a popularity contest, I would probably win!”
Rupert: “I bet I have millions of fans! around the globe!”
Francesca : “ In that case…I have Billions! Around the globe, I am symbolic!”
Rupert: (conceding-ly ) “ok…ok… we are Both popular… I’ll ad-mit it.”
Francesca: “ Fine, then…but would you Puh-leeze leave now, I’m asking nicely.”
Rupert: “ No, Miss ‘small stuff’, I am VERY important: I have to fuel up for my 3,000-mile migration, which takes months ! ”
Francesca: (slightly perturbed) “ I will live LESS THAN 14 days, and I need this nectar to stay alive. I’m wasting precious seconds of my short life talking to you !”
Rupert: “Ouch there, sorry, didn’t know! Well…carpe diem, babe. And I mean that for real. Gotta zzzzip now, buh-bye!” (as he blew a kiss and departed, heading south).
As soon as he left, Francesca [ the heroine in this fray]… { BTW…up for an academy award} drank her fill, then gently lifted off. The sunbeam faded away… FINI.
That dispute happened within ( maybe) a timeframe of 60 seconds, a stunning microcosm in my own back yard. I yelled out “Whew, thank YOU! (then my applause )…That was a treat! What a show ! What a spectacle of nature ! What an unusual scene! I was privileged to watch !”
If you can imagine hearing Rupert and Francesca’s voices…I hear Jim Carey as Rupert, and Susan Sarandon as Francesca… Do you? Can you re-read the story in their voices?
Carol Veliotis is a local columnist for The Covington News. She can be reached at [email protected].
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