"We seem to have a contest around here to see who gets the first hummingbird," Polly Thornton exclaimed. She is referring to herself, Connie and Don Peoples and Betsy McMillion, of Elkridge, along with her niece, Jeannie Snodgrass, of Linthicum, and Amy Hoffman, who lives in Sykesville.

Thornton spotted a beautiful male hummingbird at her Elkridge home May 2, which is very late, considering that they are usually around our area by April 15.

"It is amazing that they can zoom in on our feeders after flying all the way from Central America," Thornton said.

For those of you on the lookout for hummingbirds, Thornton informed me that "we will see them for a short while, as they get nourishment after their long flight, then they won't appear again for awhile and that's when many folks give up on them, but they are busy nesting and won't show up routinely again until their babies hatch."

So don't give up, they will be back.

During our conversation, Thornton confirmed my observation that the Gold Finches are even prettier than usual.

"The Gold Finches are very polite to each other when feeding from the thistle feeder. And the downy and red belly woodpeckers are still coming around eating the suet," Thornton said. "We have an ongoing wonderful show in our own back yard."

Linda Possehl shared a true story with me that we could all use as a lesson in life.

She was driving home on Snowden River Parkway by the intersection of Route 108.

"I was stopped at the first red light and in front of me there were three mommy Canada geese and about 10 babies starting to cross the street. They started to cross just as the light turned red. Oh, I was thinking to myself, will they have enough time?"

The light changed and luckily there were no cars in the lane next to Possehl. She paused and patiently watched them cross and the large family of geese all made it safely to the other side.

Maybe we can learn something from this incident. I think it's a message for all of us to slow down a tad and practice taking our own sweet time every now and then, just like the geese did.

Are you aware there is a local company called Home Physicians Chesapeake, where a doctor actually comes to the house and exams patients and performs necessary blood tests?

For quite awhile now, Mary Burke has been taking care of her husband, Jack, one of Elkridge's most revered old-timers. He now has extreme walking difficulties, therefore it's a huge challenge for Mary to get him into a car for appointments.

One day, Mary saw the information about Home Physicians Chesapeake on a car while driving on Route 100 and sped up to write down the name and address. Mary and Jack are immensely pleased with this service. To find out additional information, go to www.homephysicians.com or call 410-636-3060.

Local churches have recently earned the Outstanding Congregations Special Award for Mission Initiative DreamBuilders. I would like to recognize this interfaith community of teens and adults that have participated by building homes for those in need.

Congratulations to: Trinity Church, in Waterloo; Temple Isaiah, in Fulton; St Mark's, in Highland; St. John's, in Ellicott City; and Ascension, in Westminster.

Together, they have worked with Habitat for Humanity in West Virginia, New Mexico, New Orleans, Mississippi, Albuquerque, Guatemala and central America.

DreamBuilders hopes to have 500 missionaries ready and willing to travel anywhere in the world to build or rebuild homes for those in need.

Additional information about DreamBuilders can be found at the Web site stmarkshighland.ang-md.org/DreamBuilders/index.html.

A few weeks ago, Howard High School had an alumni lacrosse game on one of those sunny days that were meant to spend outside. My son, Brian, came home from the University of Maryland for the weekend to play in the game.

He scored the very first goal and had a great time with other former Howard High lacrosse players. Jimmy Dress, Tommy Sariouglou, Arin Foreman, Mike Caplan, Phil Thomas and Mike Randolph all played on the same team as Brian.

Thomas made an incredible goal while playing with a long pole during the game. He expertly maneuvered down the field and skillfully shot under his leg for a picture-perfect goal.

Brian's team ended up on the short end of the score, but enjoyed the exercise and friendly game just the same.

Congratulations to Brian also for being accepted into the travel abroad program through the business school at University of Maryland. He will be traveling to Rome for the fall semester to attend the American University of Rome. I wish him luck in learning to speak Italian well enough to communicate before his adventure begins!

I would love to continue the friendliest neighbor of Elkridge acknowledgments, but I need suggestions from you. Which neighbors do you want to see highlighted?

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