Bats: Like dogs that can fly

Bat. My Free Photos

Bats are really cool. I have always thought so, and not just because I used to be slightly obsessed with vampires. Bats are mammals, but they can fly. Some species, like Giant Indian Fruit Bats, even look like dogs with wings. Seriously --  that's why they're also known as flying foxes.

You can't save 'em all (Musical payoff after the jump)

This disgusting picture is a turtle that Zach and I saw one afternoon this spring, scrabbling in the road near our house. We were in our car, and another young couple had pulled over and exited theirs to, presumably, get Mr. Turtle out of harm's way. They seemed excited and confused. Traffic was building up in the street.

Stuff a rock in it

As Anonymous remarked on the previous post, a suspect was apprehended in the case of the Trolley Trail attacks. I admit that does make me a feel a little safer when I'm traversing the neighborhood alone with our pack.

Of course, I realize that bad things can happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone. Our house happens to be located on an emergency route, and so wailing sirens remind us of this fact several times a day. And although I genuinely feel that we are surrounded by a lot of great neighbors, sketchy things happen regularly in our general area. (For proof, check out the highy addictive crime mapping tool on the KCMO police department's website.)

Earlier this summer, I was inside a nearby liquor store when a fight broke out because the cashier asked some unruly guys to leave. Not many weeks before that, someone smashed the window of one of our vehicles with the chunk of concrete pictured above.

I have to remind myself not to get too worked up when these things happen. Life is unpredictable and as unfair as it is beautiful. The best we can do is try to be prepared for the bad things without obsessing on them, attempt to remain rational whenever the nastiness goes down, and make the best of the situation after the fact.

Zach's solution after the vehicle break-in: Turn that rock into a piece of our landscape.