This photo was taken last July at Mount Tabor, a park near our house in SE Portland. Yes, it is a hummingbird, feeding from a flowering vine climbing on a chainlink fence. Although I often walk this park with Frankie, this time I was there as part of a project in which the firm is reviewing several historic structures associated with the various reservoirs in the park. While taking photographs of the Gatehouse at Reservoir 1 (which was built more than 100 years ago as an integral part of the City of Portland's water system), I was "buzzed" by a pair of hummingbirds. Although all I had was my "point-and-shoot" camera, and not my DSLR, I was able to get close and zoom in on this very lucky shot. A review of the shot on the screen appeared that it looked good... and then I promptly forgot about it.
This is where the serendipity comes in. Months later, in late October, Carolyn, a coworker on the project came into my office. "What is this???" she exclaimed, "Did you take this amazing picture?". I had to squint to see it, and of course then I recognized it. She was reviewing photos for the report on this project and happened to come across it...and fell in love with it.
The more I looked at this photo, the more I realized how lucky this shot was. The thrill of seeing these beautiful but small creatures in their habitat, is recalled as I contemplate the photo. So it is in life, where we often are so focused on our tasks at hand that we run the risk of missing something unique and beautiful...right before our very eyes. We also risk losing that precious moment in the mass of files and information we store to (hopefully) later run through in our work. It makes wonder what else have I "lost"? Perhaps someone else sifting through what we all too often think of as detritus, will discover yet another treasure?
One can hope. Thank you, Carolyn.
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