Today I finally put the finishing touches on the layout for the wedding album my father offered to pay for—using one of the online photo services that now offers very nice leather-bound books. I’m excited to see how it looks. It was so great to go through those photos again. I still miss it, the exhilaration of it; the anticipation of the big day.
The daily routine can get kind of…routine sometimes. I’m back in that time of my cycle where I’m a bit emotional and Pete seems to be back in his cycle of feeling frustrated. Ever notice how a bad mood can spread faster than a cold germ brought home by a pre-school kid? It crawls under the surface of the skin as the air gets heavy with it. It affects everything.
Earlier on the porch tonight Pete and I sat quietly and then we heard what at first sounded like a dog tag jingling. But the sound never passed by as it should have. Instead, it bounced back and forth; getting louder then softer and stopping each time I thought I might have a lock on it. I stood up and peered out into the darkened street and up at the cloudy night sky. I started to imagine a bird in distress, perhaps entangled in something metal like a dog collar.
And then I saw it…the unmistakable flight pattern of the bat as it zigzagged in tight Z’s between our house and the one next door. I am assuming there was likely more than one, but I couldn’t spot them. The sound was extremely loud, though. They must have been munching on the moths and gnats and mosquitoes that have come out.
I have had a few run-ins with bats. In New Paltz, NY, my boyfriend at the time and I were hanging out with a friend in her upstairs apartment (the top floor of a house with nothing around really but trees). We were hanging out in her living room with a few other folks watching Jacob’s Ladder, smoking a lot of pot of course. All of a sudden, maybe half-way through the movie, a fucking bat was tearing around the perimeter of the ceiling above our heads.
Well you can imagine…pandemonium broke out! Lights were flicked on, brooms were grabbed, people fled into other rooms and slammed doors, girls covered their hair in terror (apparently it is a myth that bats will become entangled in your hair). After much screaming and carrying on, the offender was stunned into submission by a lucky broom swap, and we all went to look at it on the kitchen floor.
It was tiny. I couldn’t believe how tiny it was—a field mouse with wings was all. We got it outside. It turns out, however, that the girl’s cat was the cause of the bat’s intrusion. The cat was pulling aside the side of the air conditioner and crawling out onto the little flat roof outside her bedroom window. This roof sat underneath a large tree—a tree that was swarming with bats. The cat would leap up and swat at the bats for amusement, and every once in a while would actually hit one. She would take it in her mouth and bring it inside, naturally, where she would quickly grow bored with it because it was not moving.
A little while later and the bat would come to—perhaps with a slight headache and a bruised rib—and look around wondering where the fuck all the other bats were. Naturally, it would take flight, as that is what bats do. So this chaos happened more than once, in other words, but we were much better prepared for it after the Jacob’s Ladder incident.
I am fascinated by bats. Several months ago Pete and I heard on the radio a discussion of making ‘bat boxes’ and I said I wanted to do that. They are great for keeping the bug population down around the house. I haven’t done it. But tonight, feeling the heavy air and the itch under the skin while listening to the screeching of the bats…I think I have a project for this week.
I love looking back at photos of our wedding. I bet it's been a lot of fun putting an album together.
Also bats are so cool. I'd love to have some where we live. Maybe I'll put up a bat box and see if it attracts any.
Posted by: Emma | Friday, May 26, 2006 at 05:26 AM
This is so weird...I've had plenty of folks read this entry, but only one comment.
I'm getting paranoid! Did I offend?
Posted by: Sarah | Friday, May 26, 2006 at 04:02 PM
Ooh! I got a bat box for Christmas! We're moving, so I haven't put it up yet AND I have to hide the fact from my husband that I have a bat box but I am looking forward to finding a nice secret spot in our new place for bats.
Growing up in the country, our cats found bats the very best prey and brought them indoors frequently - so much commotion with the bats flying our around our downstairs a million miles an hour with the cats leaping up to try to catch them, and my Mom shrieking.
A bat flew into our OFFICE this week.
I didn't realize I had so much to say about bats...
Posted by: Cory | Friday, May 26, 2006 at 04:31 PM
I'll comment so you don't feel paranoid. :) I think most of us may be Cory's opposite: We like reading about bats, especially if you are the one writing about the bats, but when it comes to contributing to a bat discussion, we got nothin'.
I hope your bad mood lifts soon!
Posted by: Schnozz | Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:39 PM
no offense. I usually don't make a comment unless i actually have something to say. I'm making an exception for you today! :)
My cats brought me an unliving bat the other day. He/she was so tiny and odd. We see them flying outside our house every evening in the summer. But i can't hear them.
Of course one of my fearsome cats proudly brought me a pair of dirty socks last night. He was using his catty victory cry and was all proud. He seemed a bit miffed that i laughted at him, but then i thanked him nicely for the socks.
Posted by: jilbo | Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 11:08 AM
Ok, I can't stop.
Sarah, do you read bitch phD? If so, then you probably saw Mr. B's post yesterday about a bat in their house.
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2006/05/insomniac-night-of-gothic-terror_26.html
Posted by: Cory | Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 02:36 PM
I love bats. I think it would be so cool to have a bat box! What a great idea!
Wanna see the album!!!
Posted by: Cecily | Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 06:29 PM
Wow...I just wrote about bats today too! I don't deal very well with them, I have to admit. I know they're not that dangerous, but still...
And I do know a girl who had one get tangled in her hair.
True story.
Posted by: Rachel | Monday, May 29, 2006 at 04:29 PM
Bats totally creep me out. Don't even like reading about them, or my sons 'cute' stuffed one. Ick!
Hey just had to ask... are you getting the album made at Shutterfly? I've had my eye on the leather bound books for a while and would love to do 1... or 12 of them! Let us know how it turns out!
Posted by: Melissa @ Organized Chaos | Friday, June 02, 2006 at 03:23 PM