Walt Amses: Meditations on a hummingbird

Editor’s note: Walt Amses is a writer and former educator who lives in Calais.
When I encounter a hummingbird in Vermont, I usually think it’s a big insect because the humming I presume provided its name is really more like a buzz, say of a gigantic bee. Listening to upwards of 50 at the same time is like being just the other side of the hill from a motorcycle race. Watching them flit about is even more intriguing, splashes of iridescence that can just as easily stop on a dime in mid