Deceiving Lights

The Ragtag Daily Prompt this morning is DECEIVING

Sleep eluded me at the crack of dawn this morning; I woke up at 4:30 and my muse wouldn’t go back to sleep. I began thinking about an article I want to write soon and lines and phrases started coming to me. That for sure took my sleep away.

I wandered into the kitchen and looked out the east window, wanting to see how much daylight had conquered the darkness at this point. There was a glow on the eastern horizon, but what got my attention was the amazing sight in the heavens. I actually went outside into the driveway to get a better look.

The moon was a glowing sliver, but I could see the shadow of the whole moon. And there was this huge, brilliant star to the right of, and higher in the sky than, the moon. Was it the planet Jupiter, so brilliantly shining? Or was it a close satellite deceiving me into thinking it was a planet? Looking around I saw a larger reddish star and wondered if it was Mars. I’m familiar with the birds that fly through our skies, but have never made a special study of the planets to know one from the other on sight.

In any case, I stood outside for awhile just watching, as the glow of dawn slowly crept up to meet the moon. I had to think of the star the wise men saw announcing the birth of “the King of the Jews.” Did they actually follow it all the way, as some Bible stories say? Or was it simply a signal and they proceeded to Jerusalem because, where else would one look for the King of the Jews?” Was the star as brilliant as the one I saw this morning — or even more?

Another “natural phenomenon” I witnessed yesterday evening after I got home from doing supper at the Villa. This sight was out the west window. I noticed a lot of tiny chattering and whirring; when I glanced out I saw several humming birds whizzing around. And a couple more came. And a couple more came. Were my eyes deceiving me?

We’ve had five around our feeders lately, but some others must have come in from elsewhere. I counted for sure seven, probably eight. (Hard to count zipping whirling bids as they chase each other away from the feeders!) And they were all at the two feeders by the side door. It dawned on me the feeder by the front door must be empty, so they were all crowded around these two. At one point five little hummers settled in a circle, slurping away at the bigger feeder.

Tanking up for their long journey ahead. Oh, I will miss them!

Thinking of our birds going and seeing the crops ripening reminds me that winter will be here all too soon. So I’ve decided that this week my special project is going to be fitness & exercise. Less hit-or-miss; more proper bends & stretches; getting up early in the morning and going for a walk — hopefully before the mosquitoes wake up. 🙂

Wish me courage. I really want to do this — and I hope I’m not just deceiving myself. 😉