Life is still "interesting"!!

It has been some time since I've blogged. It was pretty crazy the last month in Galmi, and for the two months since we've left. Things are quieting down (a bit), and I may be able to blog about some of the summer's happenings since leaving Niger. I must admit though that I wasn't sure how much blogging I would be doing, as life in Michigan is rather "normal". Well, this week had a "highlight" that is worth mentioning. Since returning from England, we have been living in a house that is right next door to my father's business. (It is a bit strange being only a stone's throw away from the house I spent my childhood in.) It has a "Michigan basement" which I've personally disliked since I can remember. They are dark, musty, cold, and always kind of creepy. I was doing my typical laundry sort on Monday, and threw a load of light colors into the washer. Came back later to remove the load and and start the next. As I was pulling out the laundry, I noticed that what looked like a dark sock that had gotten mixed in. Not a terribly unusual occurrence. When I picked up a handful, including the "sock" I realized that it was NOT a sock, but a bat! I yelled, and dropped the bat in a hurry! I'm not a screamer, but Samuel heard my yell and poked his head down the basement steps. I told him to go get Alan. Alan comes quickly to the door, and starts to descend.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

"Uh,huh"

"Are you physically hurt?" he queries.

"I'm fine..." I relate the story of the "sock".

"Where is it now?...Is it dead?"

"It is between the washer and the dryer, and I think it's dead, but I wasn't about to have a closer look"

At this point Alan disappears, returns with gloves and disposes of the "sock" somewhere outside. I resume taking the laundry out, wary of any other objects that are "dark" and look out of place. There were none. As I am hanging the laundry out on the clothes line, I get to Alan's best white shirt, to find it stained a "dark" splotchy color all across the bottom half of the back and one side of his shirt. Undoubtedly the bat met it's demise there--or minimally was spun dry there. Why did it have to be his best shirt??? Why not a raggedy old t-shirt that needed an excuse to be thrown out? As I was debating my course of action about the shirt, I began to ponder several thoughts. How did the bat get in the washing machine? Was the lid up or down when I went to put the clothes in this morning? If the lid was down, was the bat in the laundry basket upstairs? Was the bat alive, or dead when I was sorting clothes from the laundry basket upstairs?? Why didn't I notice it when I was sorting? Is this the creature that we had flying around upstairs nearly 10 days ago?? Where was it for the duration of the time between when we trapped it in the hallway, and when it ended up in the washing machine??? What if this wasn't the bat from 10 days ago? Has it been in the laundry hamper for all that time? Does it have any more friends or family members?? (Alan already disposed of two others the night we arrived back from England) Will I ever get the creepy feel of a soft, furry bat in my bare hand out of my memory??? Needless to say the questions swirled around in my brain a bit more. I was able to continue using the washing machine that day, and get the "bat stain" out of Alan's good shirt. Thank goodness for Spray-N-Wash! My only regret is that I didn't have my wits about me enough to take a photo of the bat before it was removed from the house. Let's hope there won't be another similar opportunity in the future. I have decided to give the basement another name..."The Bat Cave". It sounds more adventurous if I'm "going to the bat cave" to do some laundry...never a dull moment!