We finally put out our hummingbird feeder on Saturday.  Not that we have seen any hummingbirds here in Oysterville yet this season.  But our friends Les and Kaye in Seaview say that they have so many vying for a chance at their feeder, they are going through a quart of sugar-water a day.  Kathleen and Frank who live just two miles south of us say that the feisty little birds are putting on quite a show at their feeders, too.
     But not here in Oysterville.  It’s not the first time I’ve wondered if Oysterville is beginning to disappear Brigadoon-like into the mists of Shoalwater Bay.  Perhaps the hummingbirds are the first to notice – or not notice, as the case may be.  Sort of like the canaries in the coal mine only backwards.
     Certainly, our population is disappearing.  Within the last year, four houses have sold or have sales-pending.in our little National Historic District.  The ultimate result will be the loss of two part-time and five full-time residents and the gain of one almost full-time resident (three weeks out of four here) and five part-time residents.  We are excited for all the people involved.  The changes are milestones they have looked forward to.  Plus, we are always pleased to welcome new neighbors, no matter how frequently we see them.
     I suppose we are – and probably have been for some time – a really-truly ghost town.  About what constitutes a ghost town, Wikipedia says:
     A ghost town is an abandoned village, town or city.  A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters. The term is sometimes used to refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods which are still populated, but significantly less so than in years past.
     We definitely qualify on the last point – significantly less population.  A hundred years ago there were more than 160 Oysterville residents;  now only a fourth that.   And, the jury’s out (so to speak) on whether or not the economic activity that supported us has failed due to “government actions.”  The County is still messing with Oysterville Sea Farms and the U.S. Congress seems to be giving our Post Office only a year’s reprieve.  Besides, the majority of the population are retired, so the economic picture is totally skewed.  Oysterville hasn’t been a blue collar, working class town for more than half a century.
     We haven’t even seen the deer people in town lately.  Of course, I must admit that we discourage their coming into our yard.  But, without deer and hummingbirds and people, I feel like we are, indeed evaporating.  Thank goodness for the swallows!  They are everywhere — even in Oysterville.