Annie will be displeased that she missed a very special Christmas visitor last night.

The siding on our house was installed very poorly. It is very evident when standing in the gutted master bedroom. There are cracks and fissures all around that provide air, light, and... other things to pass into the house. Last night after dinner, I went to bed and continued where I had left off the night before in my current book. Yes, I've read it many times before, but I'm low on reading material. When that happens, I turn towards my library and try to figure out if I've forgotten enough of the material to warrant another reading.

I nestled down and opened up Stephen King's It. I was reading a particularly spooky part. I had entered into that heightened awareness that leads one to expect ghosts, goblins, witches, demons, or whatever spooks a person to be floating through the hallways, or outside the bedroom window, or... God, help us... under the bed. Lilo was snoozing off and on against my legs when the light dimmed a little. My gaze went to the ceiling, as did Lilo's.

In amazement, I watched the ceiling hypnotically as a bat flew around the fan. It made at least fifty circuits around the room. A couple of times it flew down to check out Lilo, my book, and me. Before I could pull out of my fascination, it flew out of the room. No, I don't know where it is, but I don't mind. It will find its way out, or I'll find it, and help it back into the wild black yonder. I figure I owe them. Not only do they eat an incredible number of insects, but they have civil engineering insight. After three years of a vacancy sign hanging up on the bat 'condos' that Annie and I made, the terrible winds in the last storm brought the pole down. I always knew the pole wasn't great, but I'm pleased to say that the bat houses came down from twenty feet in a storm without any damage. Annie and I know how to build things... maybe we struggle with hanging things.

Batty.