"Summer Hummer" SOLD!

April 4, 2023 Kelly Jadon

Nature Teaches

December 1, 2021 Kelly Jadon

Hummer Wreath, Stained Glass and Jewelry, $200, Kelly Jadon, 2021—no longer available

Hummer hidden

within her nest

covering with feathers

with wings

her chicks

—hovering above the flowers
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2021

the perch

November 16, 2021 Kelly Jadon

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

Florida Eco-Tourism: The Birds Have It!

October 12, 2021 Kelly Jadon

Side Panel from “Hummers in Flight” Kelly Jadon, 2021, $1800

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.

Palm City: Walk It

October 8, 2021 Kelly Jadon

From “Hummers in Flight” Kelly Jadon, 2021 $1800

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.

(C) Kelly Jadon; “Hummers in Flight” 2021 $1800

Hummers Drawn to Purple Blooms

October 7, 2021 Kelly Jadon

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.

The Pineapple: The Welcome Sign!—SOLD!

October 6, 2021 Kelly Jadon

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.

“The Pineapple” Kelly Jadon, 2021, $75, SOLD!

Pinked Out

October 5, 2021 Kelly Jadon

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.

Kelly Jadon, 2021 “Hummer Pinked Out” $75

A New Life!

September 30, 2021 Kelly Jadon

(C) Kelly Jadon, “Hummers” 2021, $70—No Longer Available

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!

I'm Small, But I'm Fast!

September 11, 2021 Kelly Jadon

My daughter is built just like her “Tayta,” or grandmother, in English. At 79, Tayta is still in vibrant health, living in Nazareth, Israel.

At the end of my daughter’s senior year, the Jensen Beach High School yearbook was published. It included a photo of my daughter sprinting around the last curve of the 400 meter race. Captioned underneath was her comment—”I’m short, but I’m fast!”

The hummingbird is the smallest of birds, but able to fly up to 60 miles per hour. 90% of his time is spent hovering while feeding, its wings beating so fast they “hum.” He can move himself up, down, backward, even upside-down!