By Mary Alice Murphy

The other afternoon, a feisty male hummingbird was chasing away all other hummingbirds. Oh, you're thinking: 'That was a rufous. They're the bullies."

Nope, it was a male broad-tailed hummingbird. Since the fall migration seems to have begun, I'm guessing he had just arrived from a long trip, and he was certainly drinking more than his share of what was in the feeder. He wasn't sharing with any other bird. It was all his. He finally went off to rest for a bit, and two females, a rufous and a black-chinned, scooted in to have their supper. Soon bully broad-tailed was back, and the other hummers nearby took off for other feeders. Even the male rufous hummers were wary of this newcomer.

I didn't see the broad-tailed the next morning, so he must have gotten his fill and kept heading southward.

Last night, Wednesday night, I stayed up past my usual bedtime, set a chair up in the driveway, and looked for meteors from the Perseid meteor shower, which regularly happens this time of year.

I was sleepy, so I didn't stay out longer than half an hour. I had hoped to see at least five good shooting stars.

The first one I saw happened within minutes of my setting out my chair and getting my eyes used to the dark sky (I had used a flashlight to make sure I didn't trip over anything) and was the best of the evening.

It started mid-sky in the north, was quite large and bright and shot across the sky above me until it fizzled mid-sky to the south of where I sat. I kept my gaze on that portion of the sky, but the next one I saw was a much smaller and less bright one that I caught the movement of out of the side of my eye. It was almost directly west. The third was the tiniest, and I may actually have imagined it, but I'm pretty sure I saw a short trail.

The fourth was not quite as bright as the first, but came from the same part of the sky as the first and did a good run across the sky.

I sat out in the cool east breeze for a few minutes longer, but didn't see any more and by then, Mr. Sandman was making my eyes close, so I took the chair back inside and went to bed, where I quickly snoozed off, glad that I had made the effort to see the meteors.

I've always been fascinated with the night sky, but being early to bed and fairly early to rise, I don't often get to enjoy our wonderful dark skies, so it was a special treat the other night.

Take time to enjoy what nature offers you. This time of year is special, as everything is still green, but the first hints of fall are in the air, as the grasses begin to go to seed and soon to die to prepare for winter and the next growing season.

Weather prognosticators are predicting a huge El Niño this year, which may bring damaging floods to California but will help quench their thirsty soil. Let's hope the Pacific oscillation also brings us plentiful snow to heal our burned forests of the past few years.

I believe that we must be stewards of our planet, but God is the final arbiter of healing what nature sometimes wreaks.

May your musings bring you beauty!