Earth Day 2010 Part 1

Hi Folks,
I haven't posted for a year, but events of the last week have me thinking back and I wanted to post these Earth day related items, if but for my kids enjoyment some day
It was nearly a year ago May 30th, 2009 that my church had a bazaar for which all the members of the parish cook for, or participate in some way. Likewise, I baked numberous items, boiled potatoes,etc., delivered them in the AM, then came back to get the fam, and enjoyed the festivities. After it was all said and done, we came home to sit back on the couch and I noticed my wedding ring setting was gone. Princess cut which had been there since '96 was just gone. I immediately said a prayer to find it, but after covering the house I became more jaded. Certain that it was lost for good, somewhere at the bazaar, ground underfoot no doubt - I gathered my kids under the token gesture of going back to look for it. We got to the gate to reopen it and there was my diamond, smiling up at me. I called my husband right there, from down the driveway, told him of good fortune!
We came back to the house, rallied to celebrate. We were all on the front deck, boisterous as could be, when we heard this PLOP. Being deaf in one ear, and not able to triangulate, so I watched everyone turn around to find a baby bat, which had fallen 22 feet to the deck (we have a roost in our eve). It lied immobile. We, who had momentarily fell silent with shock, sprang up and ushered the curious dogs and kids inside 1) not sure if it was rabid; and 2) not knowing what we could do for it. We peered out the window but there was no movement. We did the kids bedtime routine, and as I was tucking Collin in bed, he asked if we should pray for it. I said sure, and not having learned a lesson from earlier in the day, I was secretly jaded, thinking surely it was a goner. Collin then spoke the most beautiful prayer: "Dear God, can you give the bat back his wings - and if he can't fly here on earth, let him fly up to heaven." Speechless, I kissed him goodnight, and went out into the living room where my husband reported "He's not there!" I chuckled and went about cleaning up from the day, when all of a sudden Chris yelled "They are falling from everywhere!" I ran to find another baby bat on the floor just inside the door. I grabbed a file folder and slid it under him, to which he squeaked a protest; I opened the door to hear all the bats above squeaking encouragement, to which he responded, squeaking and struggling; I set him on the Adirondack chair and ran back in, like I might get dive bombed by mom. We eventually saw it swooping by the glass doors like a pendulum going higher and higher. Turned out it was the same one, but they cannot take off from ground level (flat surface. So he was crawling up when Chris, who had occasionally been glancing through the doors with hope in his heart (unlike me), could not see well because of dusk. He saw a dark image, but it didn't quite look like the bat, so he had opened the door to get a clearer look. It was, in fact, a wet spot where the bat had been (perhaps he had the p*** knocked out of him from the fall), but it gave the bat a chance to crawl in - luckily escaping being closed in the door!
And so we had two stories with good endings. We incorporated the bats into our lifestyle, watching their nightly departures, and morning returns, which we called the bat fantasia. We even invited Kristen's Girl Scout troop out to earn their "Bat Patch". All for now - Part II soon...
Julie