Another "Bird Jar" - for children

Last week, I came across something I wrote almost ten years ago about an idea for a children’s book, involving hummingbirds and desert trees. The story idea was to illustrate "the beauty of new enthusiasm."

I laughed. I am the QUEEN of "new enthusiasms." How many hobbies have I picked up over the years, all gung-ho at first, and then they peter out. How many "identities" have I tried on and then ripped back off?

But then I thought about it some more, and the idea took hold of me.

New enthusiasm... It IS beautiful. And tenuous. Fragile. And, by its very nature, fleeting. When we come across it, we should embrace it, celebrate it, support it! Because it won’t be around for long. But what happens, what we frequently do, is poo-poo it. Criticize it. Shame it. Make fun of it. Or fear it. We are denied (or deny ourselves) the pleasure of having it around for that little bit it will be there. And when it is squelched into a premature death like that, there is little chance of lasting beauty to be produced from it.

So, about a hundred hummingbird sketches later, I think I have my "characters." I have the plot. I even have the dialogue. Now it's time to hammer it out. And hope that this will maybe become more than just one more passing "enthusiasm" with nothing to show for it!