Exhausted  from the simple task of window washing, I went inside for a brief rest.  As my labored breathing became more regular, my eyes closed on pleasant thoughts of  sitting at my sparkling clean window with a nice cup of tea and enjoying the view. Just as this lovely image brought me to the edge of sleep, I heard a tiny thud on the glass.

My heart flew to my throat as I hurried to the door.  The precious hummingbird lay motionless on the straw mat.  She was on her back, eyes  closed.  Kneeling before the mat, I gently, reverently, placed her in my hands.  I was overwhelmed by the intensity of an indescribable emotion as I held this nearly weightless, beautiful creature;  her heart beating so fast as my own raced with it.  My mind flew in a thousand directions  at once. I heard my own voice cry  "Please, God, do not let her die!"  while  simultaneously  admonishing myself for cleaning the glass to invisibility.

I stood helpless, holding the helpless bird, my heart and soul filled to bursting with my pitiful  prayer for her life.  As tears streamed down my face, I vaguely recalled reading something about reviving stunned hummingbirds.  With her tiny head held gently, ever so gently, between my thumb and two fingers, I dipped the end of her long, slender beak into the cone of the nectar bottle.  Suddenly, her eyes opened as her unimaginably long tongue extended and reached for the nectar. 

To be continued....