Batty
(All bat photos except <---- that one are from the bat conservation website. Most of our pics didn't turn out well, as it was too dark to get a good shot.)
Friday night we went to see bats! M, L, H, and I went and met Dej and her friend, April there. We also met my friend, Orinda there, with her two 
boys. The program and bats were from Bat Conservation. I always attend these things with a slightly critical eye, as I don’t want to participate in anything that is attempting to exploit or make money at the animals’ expense. I was immediately relieved, as it was apparent from the beginning that the speaker’s primary concern was the bats and their needs that were his primary focus. It was clear that they really are doing these programs for the bats, not for the people. The speaker was very bonded to and protective of the bats, who clearly trusted him. That allowed me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show—no action necessary.
The presentation was very informative (and I knew a lot about bats going in), fun, and full of cheesy jokes. It reminded me that our bat house fell apart a year or two ago, and I don’t think we ever got around to replacing it. We will definitely get another one up this spring.
I’ve always loved bats and found them cute and intriguing and kind of wished I could meet one and spend some time getting to know more about them. I'm proud to say I have a couple of bats on my left arm tat, as my friend and artist, Allegrea, knew I loved them. I left there thinking maybe I could get into bat rehab, so I could frolic with them. Unfortunately, I could not hand feed them live bugs/grubs, so I don’t think I will be able to move to Michigan and start a new career. I will definitely be planning a trip to Michigan to visit the sanctuary!
We’ve never had one within our house, but I grew up in a house where we got occasional visits. I’ve grown up knowing all too well the swift breeze they generate when flying over my bed at night, the subtle little squeaks, the sound of their thin rubbery wings flapping overhead. I got to see them up close, and they are damn adorable. I couldn’t understand why people found them so repulsive! I still don’t! I’ve been lucky enough to touch them on multiple occasions. I wasn’t hurt and certainly didn’t get rabies. They are cute, cuddly, scientific wonders!
Their echolocation abilities are phenomenal, and the evolutionary process by which this skill was perfected is absolutely breath taking!
Saturday was a full chore and errand day. We had H this week from Thurs. night until Sun. night. M worked Sat., so I had to take the kids out with me to run errands. Because I know they would have a lot more fun playing at home than having to run out with me, I let them pick one stop, but they had to agree on it. Miracles abound, and they came up with a store they agreed on: Hobby Lobby. UGH!
H is my little calculator and keeps very close track of my spending, as there must always be equity between them. Though he tends to focus on $, she makes sure everything else is equal, too. When he is with us, he is a member of our family and is treated as such in every way. That means if L gets something he gets something, too, and it also means that when necessary, he is disciplined as a member of our family as well. So once the kids were done with their cat figure shopping, they had certain other sections in the store they wanted to check out. That’s where it started to go to hell.
They each wanted to look in different areas, and so we had to negotiate the order of walking through the store. After L had thrown a couple of things in the cart (a sheet of stickers and a compass/protractor set for her school work this week), H became sulky and informed me that it wasn’t fair that she already got a lot of stuff ($7 dollars worth) but he didn’t have anything. He hadn’t found anything he wanted yet and hadn’t even asked, but it was apparently showing favoritism, which isn’t allowed. He was sulky until he found a calculator/notebook/clock set that he wanted for his office. Once things were even for him, he was happy.
Then we had to have arguments over who would push the cart. Being brilliant as I am, I solved that one by having them take turns. That wasn’t quite enough though, because then they had to argue over whether the non-pusher could touch the cart while it was in custody of the approved pusher. FMR!! I was ready to smack their hard little heads together! New rule: Only the cart pusher can touch the cart. Seemed like that should have done it, but no. Apparently the current cart pusher was touching 
the cart during the previous cart-pusher’s reign, so they had to touch it just one more time to pay them back. I took the cart back and nobody was allowed to touch it.
We finally got out of there and back home, where I spent the remainder of the day on animal chores and housework. The kids took over the entire living room and the front stairs with one of their very elaborate and huge cat towns. They kept busy with that until bed time.
Here's our very tired, Chloe, dreaming away, with her adorable little tongue sticking out.
boys. The program and bats were from Bat Conservation. I always attend these things with a slightly critical eye, as I don’t want to participate in anything that is attempting to exploit or make money at the animals’ expense. I was immediately relieved, as it was apparent from the beginning that the speaker’s primary concern was the bats and their needs that were his primary focus. It was clear that they really are doing these programs for the bats, not for the people. The speaker was very bonded to and protective of the bats, who clearly trusted him. That allowed me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show—no action necessary.
The presentation was very informative (and I knew a lot about bats going in), fun, and full of cheesy jokes. It reminded me that our bat house fell apart a year or two ago, and I don’t think we ever got around to replacing it. We will definitely get another one up this spring.
I’ve always loved bats and found them cute and intriguing and kind of wished I could meet one and spend some time getting to know more about them. I'm proud to say I have a couple of bats on my left arm tat, as my friend and artist, Allegrea, knew I loved them. I left there thinking maybe I could get into bat rehab, so I could frolic with them. Unfortunately, I could not hand feed them live bugs/grubs, so I don’t think I will be able to move to Michigan and start a new career. I will definitely be planning a trip to Michigan to visit the sanctuary!For now, I’ll have to just be happy with enjoying them in my garden in the evening. It is very cool to sit outside after dusk and watch them dive and swoop through the garden doing pest control. If only the bats could eat Japanese Beatles! I may never have nice roses again, because of those nasty little bastards. I won’t kill them, but I don’t have to love them! Oooh…I could start hanging out in my attic during the winter. I think we probably have some that hibernate in there. I don’t know for sure, but with a nearly 100-year-old house, it’s pretty likely.
We’ve never had one within our house, but I grew up in a house where we got occasional visits. I’ve grown up knowing all too well the swift breeze they generate when flying over my bed at night, the subtle little squeaks, the sound of their thin rubbery wings flapping overhead. I got to see them up close, and they are damn adorable. I couldn’t understand why people found them so repulsive! I still don’t! I’ve been lucky enough to touch them on multiple occasions. I wasn’t hurt and certainly didn’t get rabies. They are cute, cuddly, scientific wonders!
Their echolocation abilities are phenomenal, and the evolutionary process by which this skill was perfected is absolutely breath taking!
Saturday was a full chore and errand day. We had H this week from Thurs. night until Sun. night. M worked Sat., so I had to take the kids out with me to run errands. Because I know they would have a lot more fun playing at home than having to run out with me, I let them pick one stop, but they had to agree on it. Miracles abound, and they came up with a store they agreed on: Hobby Lobby. UGH!
While I like some of the stuff at HL, I HATE shopping there for many reasons—the main reason being their very religious roots. I try to be very careful with where and how I spend my money, as that’s really the only vote that the citizens of the U.S. really have at this point in time. The kids like HL, because they carry the Schleich cat figurines that the kids collect and play with. As soon as we got into the store, they made a beeline for the Schleich aisle. Right after that, I was reminded of why running errands with one child is exponentially easier than running them with two.
H is my little calculator and keeps very close track of my spending, as there must always be equity between them. Though he tends to focus on $, she makes sure everything else is equal, too. When he is with us, he is a member of our family and is treated as such in every way. That means if L gets something he gets something, too, and it also means that when necessary, he is disciplined as a member of our family as well. So once the kids were done with their cat figure shopping, they had certain other sections in the store they wanted to check out. That’s where it started to go to hell.
They each wanted to look in different areas, and so we had to negotiate the order of walking through the store. After L had thrown a couple of things in the cart (a sheet of stickers and a compass/protractor set for her school work this week), H became sulky and informed me that it wasn’t fair that she already got a lot of stuff ($7 dollars worth) but he didn’t have anything. He hadn’t found anything he wanted yet and hadn’t even asked, but it was apparently showing favoritism, which isn’t allowed. He was sulky until he found a calculator/notebook/clock set that he wanted for his office. Once things were even for him, he was happy.
Then we had to have arguments over who would push the cart. Being brilliant as I am, I solved that one by having them take turns. That wasn’t quite enough though, because then they had to argue over whether the non-pusher could touch the cart while it was in custody of the approved pusher. FMR!! I was ready to smack their hard little heads together! New rule: Only the cart pusher can touch the cart. Seemed like that should have done it, but no. Apparently the current cart pusher was touching 
the cart during the previous cart-pusher’s reign, so they had to touch it just one more time to pay them back. I took the cart back and nobody was allowed to touch it.We finally got out of there and back home, where I spent the remainder of the day on animal chores and housework. The kids took over the entire living room and the front stairs with one of their very elaborate and huge cat towns. They kept busy with that until bed time.
Here's our very tired, Chloe, dreaming away, with her adorable little tongue sticking out.
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1 comment :
You like bats because they always scratched in my walls and came into my room and left you alone for the most part. I was the one that was constantly taunted and tortured by the little devils. :)
Michael
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