Of Wasps and Hummingbirds

Now that my patio is spruced up for spring, I have been making an effort to get outside and enjoy it more while the weather is pleasant.  All too soon I know it will get unbearably hot -- likely to the point where being indoors in the air conditioning will outweigh my desire for peaceful patio surroundings. While the view is quite nice, there is one problem with my new writing retreat even without the heat: I cannot stand bugs.  

Specifically I cannot stand wasps.  It's not that I'm allergic or anything, but after getting stung too many times as a kid by vindictive yellow jackets, I'd rather not repeat the experience with their distant cousins.  I know it is unlikely that they will come after me and will likely leave me alone if I leave them alone; however, that is difficult to do when they insist on dropping out of the air to check out my current reading.  It's reached the point where I tense up and jerk away when I hear the tell-tale buzzing.  I just want to be left alone!

However, as I have recently learned from experience, they are not the only creatures to buzz as they move about.

The other day while curled up with a book and my dog, I heard the loudest buzzing to date.  I jerked up in attention, completely on edge, only to spy not a giant wasp, but a curious hummingbird.  Maybe it's been too long since I've been close to a hummingbird.  Usually I only spy them briefly at a distance from my window: there and gone.  However, thanks to my new hummingbird feeder I have noticed a pair of them popping by the past few days.

Sadly, they were just as quick to leave as they were to arrive, but I'm confident they'll find their way back to the feeder.  They're certainly more welcome around here than the wasps.

Update: I have decided to name one of them Aldrin...as in Buzz Aldrin, due to the sound he makes.