I was living the dream…
Sadly, a nightmare kind of dream!
The other night, James took our dogs out in the backyard for the final potty run of the day.
- Business complete, he brought them back in the side door.
- And started screaming!
I opened the door to see what the heck was going on – and saw a BAT fly by in our stairwell over James’s head!
- Thankfully, it flew into our basement instead of into the house.
- Except the basement has a gazillion spaces for a bat to hide – and, WHAT IF HE GOT IN THE AIR VENTS, FLEW UPSTAIRS TO OUR BEDROOM AND STARTED BITING????!!!!
- (Sorry for all caps. I was rather scared!)
James did a tour of the basement – and did NOT find the bat.
- He did, however, spritz the basement with a lovely stinky peppermint spray that Mr. Google said bats don’t like.
- James ran back up the stairs and we slammed the door shut behind him.
My mind whirled with possibilities of bat attacks combined with the crazy idea I kept reading to open all the windows, take off the screens and leave the door to the basement open while we watched a TV show.
(It was almost 100 degrees that night and all I could picture was filling our house with mosquitoes and moths!)
It had been a few minutes and the smell of peppermint was wafting through the house – thanks to the air vents!
- It was time to woman up and take on the bat!
- I was going to escort him out of my basement and up the stairs.
James was ready at the top to open the door so the bat could fly right out.
- I put on long sleeves and long pants to give the bat harder access to biting me.
- Gave myself a motivational pep talk.
I went down the stairs into the basement.
- I slowly walked into the dark with my cellphone flashlight blazing.
- I checked a gazillion crevices.
As I walked past the clothes washer, I saw something huge and black fluttering in the basement window!
Moments later, James cheered as he let the bat fly out the door.
I am a bat herder supreme!
Makes me think of Hosts who want to fill their communities with happy, active members…how do you face your fears and take the actions needed to get the party started in your community?