Angel in blue

A week ago, over the top branches of the trees two blocks away, the flicking linear beeline of a hummingbird out to enjoy the uncommonly warm weather. The darting, pausing path discloses the species even without the need for binoculars. It brings back the times they’ve flown so close as to see their spectacular green coats shimmer through the transparent film of vibrating wings.
Then yesterday, out pulling weeds, the thunderous booms overhead in the distance. Glancing up in vain, the fleet long gone…until, half hour later, a single lulling roar, and there, four blocks away above the canopy, a brilliant blue F series jet floating a long u-turn to recover from some grander maneuver. Its nose looks longer in the blurring whirl of its supersonic traverse, and I think of that little buzzing bird with chromatic feathers.