The Mountain Thymes

 My goodness....This feels like the longest day in years.  When Cliff and I were working we used to get up around five or five-thirty to start getting ready for work...feed the cats, pack our lunches, shower, and whatever else working people used to do.  This morning I woke at 5:10 and didn't go back to sleep because I promised a dear friend I would pick her up in Blairsville where she was dropping off her Kia Soul at 7:30 to be cleaned and detailed.  I showered, did my ten-minute yoga routine, made my oatmeal with chopped dates porridge, brushed teeth, took morning vitamins, got dressed and headed out the door by seven-forty.  Felt like I should be going to work.  Thank goodness I wasn't!  Traffic was heavy as all the "worker bees" were heading to their job sites.  I picked up Susan at Weavers Detail & Car Wash  and she navigated me to her house up in the mountain and into the woods.  Cliff responded to emergencies in Susan's neck-o...

 I just made a hot cup of Mandarin Mint tea and told myself to stay put at the computer for at least fifteen minutes before jumping up to start another task.  The mountain fog has finally burned off (10:20) and sunshine is making its way through the forest.  Temperature was 53 when I got up at 5:30, is 68 now and predicted to reach about 80 in town so maybe high 70's on the mountain.  I still have three hummingbirds battling at four feeders.  It's very entertaining to watch their behavior this time of year before they head back to Central America.  There is more of a slow dancing type movement in their flight as they approach each other.  Their wings and tails fan out as they stay in rhythm face to face.  I sit on the porch mid-afternoon and watch this.  I've even had all three sit at the feeder at one time and sip nectar before bothering each other.     Then there's this male who has claimed the swing.  He sits waiting fo...