Hummingbirds...

Hummingbirds...

One of the cool but disorienting things about traveling across this amazing country is the three hour time shift. I've learned that I prefer keeping myself more or less on my home clock. When I travel West and if I'm smart I tumble into bed early local time, and then sleep in way past my normal wake up time. While this doesn't exactly make me a party animal, I love feeling like I'm sleeping in and still waking up before the rest of the world. That's why the last 3 mornings I've been up in time to sit on my hotel balcony in cool predawn light and watch hummingbirds. My room was on the 4th floor, so I was at tree-top level, and they flitted and rested at the top of the tree all of 20 feet away. They trump even helicopter pilots for grace and maneuverability.

Conference this week and presentation this morning went fine. Now I'm cooling my heels in a airport hotel in the hottest and dreariest part of Phoenix (Tempe) after having been at a posh resort up North all week. I have a 6am flight to Detroit tomorrow morning followed by buses, cabs and a border crossing to pick up my car before driving the last 4 hours home.