Who do we think we are?

Photo credit: Courtney Greene McDonald

My neighbor sent this photograph of a hummingbird evaluating a feeder near her backyard. It’s the time of year when “snowbird” hummers are being called to warmer climes, so this bird seemed to be “hanging on” for just a little longer.

It’s an interesting picture, and I’d even say it has metaphorical possibilities, like that marcescent leaf that withers but doesn’t fall in winter. A closer look, however, reveals a bit of helpful information. That’s not a hummingbird. It’s a nuthatch, one of my favorites because it’s often seen, as it is here, downside up.

Which I’d say has metaphorical possibilities.

One could think it a waste of valuable time to stand on one’s head and look around when there is important work to be done. Hold on, though. Weren’t we kids once? Didn’t we stand on our heads in the lush summer grass in our own back yards? Didn’t we giggle at the oddness of it all, and belly laugh when our playmates tipped us to the ground?

Work, accomplishments, return on investments of time — all are very important, especially to adults. We have families to feed, places to go, meetings to lead, bottom and top lines to improve, maybe a campaign to run. A proper perspective and a clear head are what we need for much of our lives.

A writer, however, might be due for a different perspective. For the nuthatch, that would mean sitting upright for a few minutes, but for the solver of word puzzles, as writing surely is, a different perspective can be thought-provoking. If this nuthatch could inform his avian relatives, he might laugh at them for always looking at life from one side only. But the nuthatch knows that a different perspective can wield results, maybe even a new food source. Or, maybe just an enjoyable, perhaps inspirational, point of view.

—RJ Stewart

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