Broad-tailed Humming Bird?

In camp, I was dive-bombed by a broad-tailed hummingbird. I'm not sure why it's called this instead of "ruby-throated" but there must be some sort of difference. I think this should be the government's new un-manned vehicle destroyer. I imagine that beak stings like a needle.

WildFlower

"Quiet hour

You have always been my wildflower

Showing up wherever beauty's lost its way

Your heart must break"

"I was free

Until I heard the song you sang me to me

Pulling me away from everything I knew

To be with you"

"And everything I know just fades away

And every time you go it hurts me so

I don't know why when I know we're free

Free to fly"

"Here we are

Burning faster than the closest star

Falling back down to the Earth

I love you so it sometimes hurts"

"Closer still

You will find me standing on the hill

Waiting for you with my arms stretched open wide

Now, come inside"

"And everything I know just fades away

And every time you go it hurts me so

I don't know why when I know we're free

Free to fly"

"And everything I know just fades away

And when a wildflower grows it picks its space

And that's the way it is when nature plays its lovely hand

We'll understand everything

Everything, everything" -- Sheryl Crow

The Big Thompson River

The Big Thompson River really isn't that "big" at all. Perhaps it was named after its length rather than its width. Or maybe its flow in the spring-time. In the Spring, after a winter of good snowfall, it speaks in a language somewhere between a roil and a gurgle.

Is the Big Thompson male or female? I would guess female, because of all the life the river nurtures. Humming birds dive bomb her waters in search of a refreshing drink. Trout swim her waters, looking for insects and dodging fly fishermen. Lilies and a myriad of other flowers drink from the marshes she creates. Elk graze on the long grasses and find shelter from over-eager tourists behind her winding banks.

The Big Thompson river in Moraine Park, a glacial basin, sustains, breeds, and protects life. She nurtures my life when I sit on her banks listening to her speak words of wisdom and peace.

"Be gentle. Slow down. Go with the flow. Or fight hard against it when you are losing your life. Let nature protect you and guide your soul. She will only guide you to the truth."