Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Bats, Man


So yesterday, we went for a walk in the coolth of the evening, to deliver some stuff to Lex, who was at a friend's house a couple of blocks away, and to go by Cafe Paradiso for (I'm sorry, Becks) an iced coffee and a Naked juice. As we walked home along the rain damp streets, we noticed a swarm of bats* flitting across the darkening sky, also out enjoying the break in the heat and in search of a little treat. Not too long after that, as the shadows deepened, the white-frosted globes of the streetlamps began to light, each illuminating a pool of grass and old herringbone brick sidewalk amidst the trees that thickly line the streets. I love my neighborhood.

That reminds me. I should put up a bat house.

*Swarm of bats may be smaller than it appears in mirror. Actual number of bats may vary, but was quite a bit more likely to have been eight than a thousand, perhaps even six, but definitely more than four.

13 comments:

Coaster Punchman said...

I agree. Bats rule. I wouldn't even kill one if it were in my house.

Dale said...

I like the bat house idea better than the cavern full of them in um, err, what was that movie called again?

Nice disclaimer on the swarm.

BeckEye said...

I bet Cafe Paradiso has guano-flavored tea.

Foofa said...

The first time ever I saw a bat I was scared shitless and then i didn't mind

Johnny Yen said...

When Kim and her daughter moved in, there was an open light fixture in her room. She was inexplicably afraid that bats would come in through it. I fixed it right away.

Bats are actually marvelous creatures, eating enourmous amounts of insects and pollinating plants.

Johnny Yen said...

I should add that it was my stepdaughter that was afraid of the bats, not Kim. She's just afraid of electrical cords.

Dale said...

Two bats flew over my head tonight. Was one of them you?

deadspot said...

We were trying to figure out if they were coming out of someone's attic, or just flying really low near their eaves. Sue tried to tell me that inhaling guano dust can kill you or something like that, but I still think it would be cool to have bats in the attic.

Die Fledermaus? Maybe the sequel, Die Fledermaus Harder Again Tomorrow? I'm glad you enjoyed the disclaimer. I try to be accurate in my reportage. Someone has to have high journalistic standards.

They do, Becks, but you can't get it iced.

I've always liked bats. I think it's because they look like flying mice, and I read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH at an impressionable age.

Johnny, you remember Justin? He had a pool in his back yard, and if you were out at the right time and had the pool lights on, bats would buzz the pool looking for bags. If they came in low enough, they'd leave a line of double ripples all the way across the pool where the tips of their wings hit the water. It was really, really cool.

That depends, Dale. Did it pee on you?

Writeprocrastinator said...

Bruce Wayne's alter ego and beneficial ridding of insects and vermin be damned, I am no fan of bats. In Italy on summer nights, they play chicken (no doubt they call it "human") swooping down on you and avoiding your hair at the very last instance.

Johnny Yen said...

I'll bet it was even cooler if you were drunk or stoned. Theoretically, of course.

deadspot said...

Hypothetically speaking, yes it was.

deadspot said...

WP, it probably wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't riding Vespas, right?

Writeprocrastinator said...

Spot,

Heh-heh-heh! Exactly! Those and Piaggios!