Tiny Wonders

An old friend sent me a link to a series of photos of hummingbirds nesting and babies growing. The last is a shocker. It shows how tiny the whole nest is -- a bit larger than a penny.

The wonders of the world are astounding.

I once asked a bright but geeky engineer neighbor, in a discussion where the 640-beats-per-minute of the hummingbird heart came up, how they used the tiny stethoscopes. He proceeded to explain to me how they took the heartbeat. I've forgotten the science, but I remember the response. We have geeks like Jim to thank for our relative freedom from infectious diseases, clean water, electronic gadgetry, and relief from killing toil.

Here's the nest with the eggs: