Cadillac and I walked around Lake Murray the other day, me having the “idea” that I would “run.” The sad part is that my running=Cadillac’s walking.
The lake is a large natural man-made lake. By large, I don’t mean Great Lakes large; I mean it’s large for San Diego, which means in other regions it might be more pond-ish. You can fish and take non-big boats out there to toodle around. There’s also a large contigent of wildlife, like ducks who live off breadcrumbs; mean geese; and swans that people keep dumping that get promptly eaten by coyotes.
Anyway, we happened by a bush when a flash of pink caught my eye. My zoom wasn’t good enough to capture it, but there was a hummingbird hanging out. Its back was astonishingly fuschia, like 80s Day-Glo fuschia.
I love hummingbirds. They were my mom’s favorite bird, and it’s always amazing to me to watch them, not just when their wings are beating fast, but when they sit and sit, because that’s the last thing you expect them to do.
MARGARET DILLOWAY 