Morning Rush Hour

It is a cool early morning as summer wanes and the chairs on the deck are still wet with dew. I spread a towel and sit back to welcome the start of the day. High above flocks of swallows are heading somewhere nearby, perhaps to chase insects above the cornfield. A blue jay sits on a nearby oak branch working on his breakfast ground worm shaking away the dirt by banging it against the branch at his feet. In the distance across the river two osprey, resembling gray kites, swoop up the river and then down looking for their breakfast. On my right where the sun hits the trees first, a female cardinal finds a clear place in the warm rays and does not move for a long time. Nearer to the tops of the tulip trees directly above, a pair of hummingbirds complete their love-ballet against the blue sky zooming one way and then back and then like bee bombers dive and hide in the gold green leaves to complete their tryst. The forest rush hour has started.