The good and the bat

The good
Yesterday, as I was taking my girls to school, we saw two hot air balloons.  This is not an unusual occurrence in our area, but these were especially close to our house.  One was descending behind a house across the street. 

The second was right overhead.  You can even see the people waving.

Seeing hot air balloons on a regular basis is one of the many reasons I love living in my small town!

The bat
Today, my small town experience wasn't so charming.  I returned home from dropping one daughter off at school, and my older daughter said, I think something is in the wood stove.  Now, we have had creatures come down the chimney and into the wood stove before, and I am not talking about the red suit type.   We do have a cap on the chimney, and we haven't had an unwanted visitor in several years.  There is a little scritch, scritch noise.  Thankfully there is a door on our wood stove, and whatever has crawled in is contained.  But, we can't see in to know if it is bird or beast.

Upon closer investigation, I see that a wing has managed to slide through the crack of the door.  It is a BAT wing.  The poor, unhappy bat then thrust his wing further out and started waving at me.  That's when I lost my cool!  My daughter and I were completely creeped out (to use her terminology)!!  I am sure the bat doesn't feel any better than we do.

Today's small town experience reminds me that we don't live too far from nature.  We are happy to have open fields and lakes and parks nearby.  Hopefully the small town animal control will be able to help me out.  I guess even the bat is a good reminder of why I like living where we live.