Late Summer Kaleidoscope

Sitting on my deck in an attempt to shake off my morning haze and clear the sleepy cobwebs from my brain, I was sipping my coffee and enjoying the comforting warmth of the sun, when the peaceful silence was pierced by a raucous call. With the effect of a second alarm ringing through my drifting thoughts, I was suddenly attentive. A blue jay?

There he sat, jaunty head cocked, calling sleepy ones to rise. Brilliant blue assailed my eyes as he rose effortlessly to greet the sun. Another movement drew me, and there where he had flown, lingered a crimson cardinal, offering up his sweet “twit…twit” like a soft caress upon the breeze. It was a sound I had not identified as his before, I being more familiar with the bolder descending call for which he is well known. I watched in wonder as he in turn lifted off to circle round the yard a scarlet spot of joyous freedom.

In rapt wonder, I lamented their departure, but no; they both circled back to the fence behind my yellow daisies, just beginning their fall display. Another jay dropped by to join them and as a trio they danced from fence to flower to cedar and back again, it seemed in gleeful play. One of the jays landed on my hanging white petunia, dangling for a moment before discovering the presence of some tasty morsel, and seating himself within the planter enjoyed a prolonged feast.

Like sapphires and rubies displayed upon an azure spread, in the midst of the glint of gold and pearl and emerald, my humble deck became transformed into an exotic café for those brief moments, a site adorned with nature’s jewels in the sun, a veritable kaleidoscope of colour.