Consider the hummingbird

I wanted to include a picture with this post, but my subject is elusive. 

That would be any of the hummingbirds that feast at my feeder, hung outside at the top a large picture window in our kitchen. 

When a hummingbird positions his/herself there, I simply cannot get in place quickly enough to get a shot. So, use your imagination. 

Here is the part of providing hummingbirds with nectar I find most baffling: their unwillingness to share. 

There are four spickets on my hummingbird feeder, with plenty of room for that many to feast simultaneously. 

But no. When one has decided to have a meal, and another one shows up, the new one gets chased away. 

Every. Time. 

If only I could teach them the joys of breaking bread (or sucking juice) together, I think they could have a change of heart. But no. The first one to the feeder decides he owns it, and woe to those who might dare try to perch alongside him. (Or her. I can't tell the difference between male and female hummingbirds.)

Some of my grandchildren were in town over the weekend and I decided to use the hummingbird feeder as a teaching tool. I showed it to them, explaining what I have just written here, and lamenting the lack of sharing that takes place in the hummingbird community. 

They enjoyed watching for a few minutes but were soon on to other things. 

Somehow, I hope the lesson about sharing, and how unattractive it is to be selfish, sunk in. 

 

In the kitchen

Wife and I have lived in our home, which was built in the mid-80s, for 25 years. 

Over time we have we have made changes and improvements, mostly cosmetic, although in the playroom we tore out some cabinets and installed some built-ins. But in general, lots of paint, flooring changes, bathroom overhauls and tearing down some god-awful wallpaper over the years. 

We have a nice-enough kitchen. It's not huge but it meets our needs and we have room for a decent-sized table and chairs which is a nice supplement to our dining room when we have family and/or friends here and need additional serving and/or eating space. 

The cabinets were originally a wood finish and we had them painted off-white before we moved in. We also replaced Formica countertops with granite. 

We've repainted the cabinets at least twice, but over time they looked tired, and the paint would always begin to chip. 

A couple of years ago we got a quote for a complete kitchen renovation in which we would pretty much gut all of it and start over with new cabinets and a new layout. It was cost-prohibitive to say the least. It was bonkers what it was going to cost, and there was simply no way we would do it. 

So we have continued to touch up the paint here and there and re-attach cabinet doors and drawer fronts that began to wear. 

Early in the year, we decided we could at least make some changes to brighten things up a bit without breaking the bank. Our cabinets -- the "boxes" -- were still in decent shape, so why couldn't we simply get new cabinet doors? 

Hardly anyone would even discuss that with us, and we would be told time and again we might as well get new cabinets. Unfortunately, that is a huge cost, a significant part of the entire project. 

So, we could just continue to live with what we had. 

However, Wife continued to persist and finally found a competent person whose company would do what we wanted -- install new cabinet doors, new countertops and a new backsplash. The price they came back with was quite reasonable (a fraction of the quote to renovate the entire kitchen) and to make a long story short, we have what looks in many ways like a new kitchen. They even added a foot to the length of the kitchen island, and it does not feel cramped at all. We could not be more pleased. 

We don't know how long we will stay in this house, but we will enjoy this while we are still here, and I think potential buyers will find the updated kitchen a plus. 

Before and after below: 

                                                    

A little July 4th jaunt

Wife and I had no plans for the July 4th weekend. All of our family members were otherwise occupied, and most of our friends had plans as well. 

I have been in kind of a funk about the 250th anniversary because Trump, as he so often does, has tried to make it about him. Some years back we went to Washington for the 4th, spent a good part of the day out on the National Mall and watched the fireworks behind the Washington Monument that night. We had the whole family with us (it was before grandchildren and even before two of the in-laws, although one of them was with us as a significant other) and it was a lot of fun. 

But it was definitely a one-and-done, something I care not about doing again. And I would not have gone near the place this year with Trump's "state fair" and all the various ways he co-opted the event. 

Now, let me say, in many ways this is my problem. As much as he might like it to be otherwise, Donald Trump does not own this country, and I have just as much right -- if not an obligation -- to be patriotic as I ever did. So, I am acknowledging I have some work to do to get my head straight about all of this. 

And to be fair, July 4th has never been a favorite holiday anyway, long before Donald Trump, probably because it's in summer, and July 4th, in the places I have lived in my life (primarily Arkansas and Tennessee) is usually blazing hot. 

Back to my point (yes, there is one). With our having no July 4th plans, about a week before, Wife and I discussed how we might spend it. Wife usually makes our travel plans but said she was up for anything if I wanted to come up with something. 

Readers might recall a couple of years ago I visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. I thoroughly enjoyed it and decided I should visit other presidential libraries and museums when the opportunity might present itself. Best I can remember, in addition to the Lincoln one, I have visited the Bush library (Bush II) in Dallas and that's it. I have not even been to the Clinton Library in Little Rock, where I lived 17 years and where I still visit friends from time to time. 

I did some research and figured out the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, in Independence, Missouri, would be about an eight-hour-drive for us. 

So, this is what I proposed to Wife and she was in. We drove a little more than half-way on Thursday July 2nd and drove on to Independence Friday morning. We toured the museum that afternoon. When we were done, we drove into Kansas City and enjoyed Kansas City barbecue that evening. 

As it turned out, Kansas City was hosting part of the FIFA World Cup and in fact, that night Ghana and Columbia were playing. We stayed at a hotel downtown across the street from Union Station. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was about FIFA. The streets were filled with fans. And while we are not soccer fans, it was interesting to witness all the hoopla around the World Cup tournament. 

On Saturday morning we visited the World War I Museum and Memorial just a short walk from our hotel. After having visited the Truman library and filling our heads with World War II knowledge and information, and the next day spending several hours looking at artifacts and reading placards pertaining to WWI, our minds were overflowing and we realized how much history we had forgotten, 

To supplement my visit to the Truman museum, I have been reading The Accidental President by A.J. Baine, subtitled: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months that Changed the World. Truman, of course, ascended to the presidency when FDR died in April after being inaugurated for his fourth term the preceding January. Truman did not even want to be vice-president, much less president, and yet here he was, faced with arguably one of the most difficult decisions of any president in history (dropping the atomic bomb). 

Saturday night we attended a Kansas City Royals game (we manage to work baseball into our trips whenever possible) and stayed for the post-game fireworks. After visiting two American historical museums and being reminded of the sacrificial service of so many patriots, I felt a bit more like celebrating. 

Although we had planned to go to another baseball game Sunday, the temperatures were soaring and we decided one was plenty. We drove all the way home. 

Here are a couple of pictures from the front of the Truman museum, and from the fireworks show after the baseball game: