'The Bat'

 I recently moved to the New England area and it is so beautiful here. I live on the third floor of a turn of the century house that has been turned into eight units. It is quiet here and has lots of trees.

I enjoy sitting out on the deck anytime of the day. The sun feels good and in the evening the stars are brilliant. When it gets dark the fireflies are many. But just as it is getting dark the bats are out in multitude. Tiny little things and I love to watch them.

Last night I was out there enjoying what nature has to offer and the bats were out feeding on the bugs and showing off their airy manners. Quickly zipping around catching unsuspecting bugs. I love it. Several times they flew close, but it wasn't until one landed on the deck, that I got a up close and personal encounter with them.

I was in awe when one flew so close to me then landed a few feet away. I thought wow, this is awesome. I had never seen one up close. Then it started crawling across the deck toward me. It was fine till It seemed it focused on me. I stood still and it kept coming, toward me. This tiny little thing struck fear in me. It continued to come toward me and as it got about a foot from me I stepped aside and it slipped off the edge of the deck into the near darkness. i breathed a sigh of relief. It was time to go in!

Then i had to laugh at myself. To be afraid of this tiny bat was ridiculous. What possible damage could it do? I felt silly for the fear. But as humans we find ourselves in fear of many things that we have no control over,  people, feelings, the unknown, sometimes these things seem so big it blocks our view of the peace that we all need. And just as I stepped aside last night, sometimes that is what we need to do, step aside and let it go. Don't dwell on the what ifs and the whys, just step aside, let it go and look beyond our fears. And many times if we do it right it just slips off over the edge of the universe and is gone. No harm done, and we breath a sigh of relief and laugh at ourselves for being so silly to fear such a tiny thing that, for that moment, seemed so huge.  It is amazing what such a momentary incident can pull up inside of us. Makes us think of things totally unrelated, yet trully has made a connection in us that we never saw coming.

 And yes I will continue to step outside and watch the bats but not without remembering that tiny little bat, doing it's natural thing, that made me think of things that are so true to our nature as human beings and is in each and every one of us. Just step aside!!!