Every now and again the question comes up as to why I want to live in the city instead of the country. It’s a good question. In the country I could keep as many animals as I like. I could have fields of crop instead of a few tiny rows. In truth, I do feel great in the countryside and the city can be congested and overwhelming…but my friends are here. In the city (at least this one) there is also an amazing convergence of thinking and creating that excites me. Still sometimes I romanticize about the “country life.” However, I’m convinced I can create the romantic naturalness of country living right here in Oakland. A place where community is strong, neighbors trust one another, and we live in connection with our fellow creatures.

After this morning, I feel even stronger about this. Out filling up a bucket for the duck tub, an Anna’s Hummingbird perched herself right on the nozzle of my sprayer. She teetered back and forth on her tiny feet catching her balance by placing her delicate wings on my hand. She flew off and returned. She then zoomed right up toward my eye, close enough that I well understood why the Aztec war god, Huitzilopochtli, is a hummingbird. It’s beak is very sword like. She sped up and landed directly on my head. I felt the slight but definite weight of her just sitting there. Thoroughly immersed in the moment, I remained perfectly still and loved every magical moment. True to the life of a hummingbird she was gone just as quickly as she had arrived.

Today, I am content to be living in Oakland, tending a backyard farm, and having hummingbirds land on me. Where else could I possibly need to be?