A Bat in the Bathroom

During a recent storm, the river behind the house flooded its banks slightly and came to within a few feet of the house. Rod and I surveyed the scene and seeing no impending danger, we found a dry spot in the house and put Bram Stoker's Dracula in the DVD player. As we’re sitting watching the film, something flies past the TV and into the guest bath. I sat there for a moment and thought, "Not another bird in the house!" But then it was moving almost silently. Maybe one of those big moths I've seen. So I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light, and guess what. A bat. How ironic is that? Watching Dracula and a bat is flying around the house. I have no idea how it got in. I’ve purchased a “Bat House” to encourage bats onto the property but I never invited them inside the house. (But the must prefer my house to theirs because their’s remains empty.)

So life in the country continues to offer its challenges. Almost daily we see rabbits hopping around the yard and they are probably the little bastards that are eating away at our vegetable garden. I was blaming them for devastating some of the lillys in the front yard until I saw a line of leaf-cutter ants carrying off the evidence. Later the same day I chased a snake off the front porch as Mary, our maid, watched through the glass doors.

Speaking of Mary, her brother invited us to his son’s tres años. A birthday party for a three-year-old like I’ve never seen before. It was held in a local reception hall and there were about 150 guests, almost all family. And Mary says that it represents only about one quarter of the family. Her mother was there and told us that she is grandmother to 30 grandchildren. The party started at 4:00 and went on until 4:00 the next morning. (We only lasted until about 9:00 PM.) I and my friend Marc were the only gringos at the party and I was a little embarrassed as Mary and Celia (Marc’s maid and Mary’s sister) saw to it that we were served first. There was music, children’s games, piñatas, food, cake, and of course, beer and tequila for the adults. I understand that after we left, there was dancing. (Not because we left, just because it was time.) I very much wanted to kidnap one of the children. I mean, with a family so large, would they really notice?