A Secret About the Impact You’ll Make With Your Book

Did you know that hummingbirds live year-round in the Pacific Northwest?

Up until recently, I did not. (I promise, this fact relates to you getting a book deal.)

I have the pleasure and privilege to live in Seattle in an apartment with a balcony, and when we moved in I bought a hummingbird feeder. All summer long, I enjoyed watching the birds come and drink sugar water. I remember my mom doing the same thing where I grew up in rural Wisconsin.

But then when I saw a hummingbird come to the feeder in November, I was surprised. Aren’t hummingbirds migratory birds? Shouldn’t they be somewhere warmer? I told a friend who has lived in Seattle for 20 years about my bird. She told me, in a very serious tone, that I should keep feeding my hummers because other people stop when it gets cold outside.

So I did. Pretty soon I noticed five or six “regular” birds coming to drink lots and lots of sugar water. And when it snowed six inches unexpectedly in December . . . even more hummingbirds arrived. The first few fought through the snow covering the feeder and tried to drink from the partially frozen sugar water.

I was aghast.

For a week, every night at dusk I would bring the feeder in so it wouldn’t freeze. I set an alarm every day during my…