Departed, Lamented, Lifeless Hummingbird

      The last week of school one of our student's moms brought in this beautiful ruby throated hummingbird which she had found perished in her garage (or should I write “passed away”, “expired”?  “Dead” just seems so awful.  Time to get out the thesaurus.) .  While I have seen several of these hovering around, I have never had the privilege of holding one in my hand.  The wings were so tiny, the beak so thin, and the body so minute.  My mother used to love to find their nests-- they are about the size of an expresso cup.  One of our students informed us that their eggs are as big as a bean.  May we never stop learning-- even from “deceased” birds.