How Much Does Life Weigh?
- Hummingbird Feeding at Bottlebrush by Laurie Buchanan
Quite some time ago I received a beautiful Papyrus card from my friend, Mary. This delicate handmade card—work of art—contained the following legend:
“Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy, and celebration. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning, and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.”
It’s not often that we’re gifted with a hummingbird sighting at our home in Crystal Lake, Illinois, so we were thrilled to see them during our recent trip to California. The weight of a hummingbird depends on the species:
- The smallest hummingbird is the bee hummingbird which weighs less than 2 grams.
- The largest hummingbird is known as the giant hummingbird and it weighs between 21 and 23 grams.
I remember a discussion (heated debate) in school we had about the 21 Grams Theory and many years later the opening lines of the 2003 movie “21 Grams” with Sean Penn:
“They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death…everyone. Twenty-one grams—the weight of a stack of 5 nickels, the weight of a chocolate bar, the weight of a hummingbird.”
The next time I see a hummingbird it may well remind me of a soul in flight…
A flash of harmless lightning
A mist of rainbow dyes
The burnished sunbeams brightening
From flower to flower he flies
— John Banister Tabb
“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
— Laurie Buchanan
© 2011 Laurie Buchanan – All Rights Reserved
