Some better, some worse

I'm feeling poorly again. I get over one thing and get socked with another. My pulled back muscle is almost better, but now I've got that vertigo again. I staggered around hauling water and watering yesterday, though I didn't do anything resembling thorough soaking. Hopefully it'll get by until I feel better.

The transmission on the truck shifts so bad that I'm afraid to drive it, so I'm hauling water in the trailer behind my pickup. Have to make more trips but they're more comfortable, and less stressful. It's just 7 miles to the lodge for water. I had thought it was farther but I set my odometer and measured it.

Looking at my oasis, I remind myself that it looks better than during winter, and since it's lovely in winter, it's lovely now. I'm like a mother seeing her ugly kid as beautiful, I guess.

So what's the "better?" The flies are gone from the feeders, so they don't sour as fast. Very few hummers are left, so I don't have to fill them as often. Or help band as often. And the weather is cooler, so I don't feel pressured to water as often, or as heavily.

As far as we can tell, only two Lucifer Hummingbirds fledged successfully this year. Here is one of them, a male. I could tell it was a male, before I even saw the two gorget feathers, by its aggressive behavior, which is very aggressive, even for an adult male Lucifer. Note the band on his right leg.