10:24 p.m.

[ The Fate of Mr. Bat ]

My mom had been afraid that Mr. Bat would meet an unpleasant end in one of the toilets of her newly empty rental dwelling. It would have been unpleasant indeed, considering that the loathsome owners of dented craniums they rented to trashed the place and left the toilets covered with waste inside and out. The only other times I've seen grownups splatter a toilet with poop and leave it like that was when I worked in housekeeping with various hotels. There's a suck-ass job. If I was left to support myself and my children and the only job options I had were to either work in the housekeeping department of a hotel or give birth to a flaming, acid-covered chainsaw in front of a live sideshow audience three times a day while reciting Beastie Boy lyrics in place of poetry (for tips and all the peanuts the audience launched at me), I'd have to consider that second option.

So that poor little bat could have very well found himself the secret ingredient in a two week old batch of poop soup had my mom not been over there previously to clean, because sure enough - he found his way into the potty. At first she thought he had drowned, but when she got close he started splashing around. She put on some work gloves and tried to get him out but he snuggled up under the rim of the toilet and refused to come out. She and my dad watched the toilet for awhile and saw him climbing out twice, but he ducked back in as they were on the way to lend assistance.

My mom finally managed to get him out this evening and made him a nice little bed in the sink with an old glove so he could dry out. He wasn't looking too well when I got over there so I called animal control, who informed me that ten bats or more are protected, but one bat alone is considered a nuisance and that if they had to come and get him he'd be destroyed. I thought they'd nurse him back to health or something. He was weak from being without food for a couple of days, but he was far from dangerous. The Animal Control person we spoke with told my mother to put the bat in a coffee can and throw him up in the air over a grassy place. Three times we did the bat toss and three times he dropped like a rock, but when he hit he started crawling through the grass as if he was looking for food. The AC guy said that was a good sign, and so was the fact that he was hanging upside down in the coffee can, so what we should do is find a place close to some trees to let him go. If he was moving around he was interested in eating and would probably be okay.

YAY!!

So we let him go and he started to crawl again. We left him alone so he could hunt in peace.

He is a beautiful little guy. I took two pictures of him while he was in my mom's sink but I didn't use the flash because I didn't want to upset him, so they didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped. Still, it's a digital camera so they were better than if I had taken them with my 35mm. The picture I had up in my last entry does him much more justice though. It wasn't his exact picture, but it was pretty darn close.

I don't know why but the AC guy was adamant that we not touch the bat. None of us did, but I wonder how he would have been affected if we had.

Gotta get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to see my grandmother. J (he thought the bat was pretty cool too), is riding with my mom and they're getting out around 6:30 in the morning, but there's no way L and I can do that. It takes a bit longer to get the babies ready to go anywhere. They'll be okay though. They're much more comfortable about being in the car now.

My grandmother is feeling much better. Her arthritis was what was causing all of those problems. Her doctor gave her Vioxx and it has helped tremendously. She can actually walk now and she hasn't been able to, so she'll be on the meds regularly. I'm looking forward to the visit.

I was just thinking today that since I have J this christmas we won't be doing any traveling. That's a good thing, I hate traveling during the holidays, and besides I want to do some baking. I keep saying I'm going to make cookies then not doing it because of the holiday bummer. I'm thinking of getting started on it in October and freezing it so that we can have home made holiday goodies even if I still get the bummer. I hope I can keep it at bay this year. I just got off of the meds from the last one and I'm in no hurry to go back on. Maybe I'll do some canning this year too, apple butter or apple sauce. I'd like to make some soap too but that's an all day thing and I don't know if I can swing that just yet. Maybe I'll just make some lotion and bath salts then. I always get all fired up to do those kinds of projects in the fall. There's such a magickal, peaceful energy around me in that time of year and I'm always at my happiest then. It makes me want to get things done.