(C) Kelly Jadon, 2023
Hummers Take Flight, 2023
Hummers Take Flight: The hummingbirds that winter in Florida have flown north for the summer’s zinnias. The base of this stained piece is glass, painted with acrylic used a fluid technique. Parts of the layered glass mosaic are fused. For Sale at $75.00
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2023
"Summer Hummer" SOLD!
"In Flight"--SOLD
Tropical Flyer--Layered Glass Mosaic
Where Flowers Bloom--Layered Glass Art
Nature Teaches
Hummer hidden
within her nest
covering with feathers
with wings
her chicks
the perch
he flits
first one cupped blossom
the two
to stop and sit
a moment’s perked perch
then two
to slightly sip
with head held forward
body bent
tongue flickering forward
from needle-like beak
nectar
what fills, fulls, fluffs
hummingbird’s ambrosia
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021
i shall rise
i shall rise
before all ceases
as eyes begin begging sleep
i shall rise
as the mist of hot tea
raises its hoary breath
a vapor
i shall rise
as breeze blows
so will i go beyond
cumulous clouds
gathering
leaving all behind
i shall rise
in promised peace
i shall rise
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021
Light Catcher
What's in Your Cup?
What’s in your cup?
Tea originated in South West China. Portuguese priests and merchants brought the beverage to Europe in the 16th Century. By the 17th Century, tea became the popular hot drink in Great Britain, replacing coffee, itself only a decade older. Why the big switch?
Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza married Charles II, bringing her desire for tea instead of coffee with her from the Continent to Britain. Tea became the fashionable drink.
The British East India Company took tea to the world and their Colonies.
Florida Eco-Tourism: The Birds Have It!
The first neighbor announced today that the Ruby Throated Hummingbird has returned to her feeder!
Each year northerners “snowbirds” travel highways south to the Sunshine State to avoid the cold. The true birds also migrate south. A part of Florida’s eco-tourism relies on its beautiful birds. The hummingbird species is key, since they are such miniature delicate creatures and can be lured for closer viewing with nectar feeders.
Between 11 and 14 types of hummingbirds can be seen in Florida, the most common being the Ruby-Throated hummer. It is actually active in the state year-round.
Birding as eco-tourism is so popular that areas count species. Tampa Bay holds the record for most types and numbers of hummingbirds.
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021
Palm City: Walk It
Each week I drive out to Palm City, Florida to see my mom and take her for a roll in her wheelchair outside between the grassy fields. The openness of the land, its greenery, the sun and wind around us, reminds me of being Up North.
We Florida transplants hail from Michigan’s countryside of dirt roads, wild asparagus, and cornfields, and the strong smell of cow manure ripe in the breeze along Green Road in Goodrich.
We were always outside. It was a place of play, work, and imagination. Today, the whispering winds of Palm City bring a calmness and peace that can’t even be touched in town.
To really see the great beauty of nature, one must walk in it, not drive. Life must be slowed down and enjoyed. That’s how we see the little things of great beauty—especially, the hummingbird.
I bend over toward Mom’s ear and ask, “Do you want to go back?”
“No,” she always answers.
Hummers Drawn to Purple Blooms
Purple flowers draw hummingbirds as well as pinks, reds and oranges in South Florida. Hummingbird sight is truly fascinating. The little birds see colors in the ultraviolet spectrum that humans cannot see. This ability helps them find food and attracts a mate.
One flower with tubular type purple blossoms to plant for a South Florida winter is salvia. Once rooted, the plant can keep producing for nearly 20 years as mine has in the shade of a palm.
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021 “Hummingbird Drawn to Purple” SOLD
The Pineapple: The Welcome Sign!—SOLD!
The pineapple is native to Brazil and Paraguay. Native Americans carried them north, up into Mexico long before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Strikingly interesting, Caribbean chiefs had their crowns or tops planted outside their doorways.as signs of welcome. Hummingbirds, also native to the Americas have been helping pollinate pineapples for a long long time.
Hundreds of years later, a Dane by the surname of Jensen, planted pineapples on the Treasure Coast. By 1902, Jensen Beach had become the U.S. and the world capital for pineapple production. Each summer season, 1 million boxes of the fruit was shipped Up North (a place to us Floridians) on the Florida East Coast Railway to New York City.
Locals still grow the fruit in their yards, favoring the super sweet Hawaiian Gold variety. When my neighbor moved in a few years back, I gifted her with a pineapple from my own yard. She in turn planted the crown and continued its growth.
Pineapples are still the sign of “Welcome to the Treasure Coast,” where the only real gold you’ll find is what’s inside the pineapple’s skin.
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021
Pinked Out
Fall came early this morning to the Treasure Coast—70 degrees! The woodpeckers are a bit livelier, their ruby heads hammering palms in search of insects. The Egyptian geese are squawking at park’s pond—they are new arrivals to the neighborhood.
The hummers haven’t yet arrived though. We’re watching. The neighbors typically gather under a pink-bloomed orchid tree watching the little birds flit about in pairs. Today, though fully leaved, the orchid tree has only one bloom. The first sign. Yet even the butterflies have shied away.
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021
The High Place
the high place
inside limbs
above boughs
shrouded by leaves
leaves her with a new view
viewing what is
hidden behind leaves hiding
camouflage
hummer’s hues
the high place
inside limbs
above boughs
shrouded by leaves
leaves her hidden
hiding herself
camouflaged
blond hair
green eyes
barefoot & sunkissed brown
the view from high up
up high where
michigan green-crabbed apples grew
into her hand
a few
flew
as if falling far
at passersby below
pedestrians on beaten dirt
made smooth
a summer’s pastime
time passing
day by sun-kissed day
so brief
the view
inside limbs
above boughs
shrouded by leaves
the high place
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021
A New Life!
Today my daughter texted a photo to our family. There’s a new life preparing to be born! In that secret place, the baby is being knit together. It’s amazing what ultrasound technology reveals.
Life is precious. Life is brief. Like that of grass—it is green, ages and then is cut and returns to the earth. The life of a hummingbird is brief as well—between five and nine years, depending on the type. The majority don’t make it past one year.
Enjoy the flowers, the birds, the beauty of the earth while it is before you!
Hummers Delight
Hummers in Flight
(C) Kelly Jadon “Hummers in Flight” 2021 $1800