Friday, September 7, 2012

Fact checking and hummingbirds

I don't write much about politics here anymore. And I don't talk about politics much anymore either.

I sometimes write about politics in my weekly column, but it's objective and I offer no opinion.

Accordingly, I watched very little of either convention. In fact, I watched none of the Democratic convention and only a few minutes of the GOP gathering.

Here's a mystery to me:  after the speeches at both conventions, "fact checking" news reports told us how what a speaker said was an outright lie or spun in such a way that is was a half-truth.

Wonder if any of them ever thought of doing that fact checking before opening their mouths?

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Wife gave me a hummingbird feeder as an anniversary gift.

It is one of the best gifts I have ever received. I hung it on the back deck, right in front of a big picture window that frames our kitchen table.

I had a customer within a half-hour of hanging it and it wasn't long until he told his friends. We have daily visitors now.

They're a curious bunch, those hummingbirds. One will come fluttering up to the feeder and here will come another, and then another, but they don't imbibe at the same time, even though there are three different little holes where they could consume the sweet nectar together.

No, when one is there enjoying the treat, another comes and chases him (or her) away. I want to tell them that there is plenty to go around and plenty of room at the table, so to speak, but they'll have none of it. It's one at a time and appears to be everyone for himself.

I love watching them. I often sit and work at the kitchen table in the early morning and they start coming soon after the sun rises. Needless to say, sometimes I have trouble getting my work done.