Hummingbird Surveys His Tiny Kingdom

I spent a half-hour before my work day began, just sitting in the side yard with my coffee, watching the yard critters start their day too. A chipmunk scampered by, stood on its back feet, and peered at me. A robin took a bath in the water bowl nearby, emerging refreshed and shaking water droplets off a mussed-up hairdo. Mama and Papa Cardinal took turns feeding their red-beaked baby in the nest that it has almost outgrown in the lilac bush. And the hummingbird surveyed his tiny kingdom in the sun.

The soundtrack: Meat Puppets, Tiny Kingdom.