Bat Medicine

Some of you may know that I shall soon be packing my bags and moving from the suburbs of New Jersey to upstate New York for graduate studies (WHOO!). This past spring consisted of me frantically trying to find a place to live for the school year, starting this fall.

At the end of May, I finally found a place! The day after I saw it, I went back to sign the lease -- and discovered that I already had my first visitor:



Do you know what that is? It's a bat! Fast asleep, clinging to the screen with its tiny bat feet. It was actually inside! I guess it's not that surprising, considering that I'm technically underground.

I'm pretty sure that this is a big brown bat. Here's a close-up of the critter:



Because I love animals and was so excited at seeing a bat up-close, I considered the creature to be a good omen. I was really surprised, however, when a pen pal of mine pointed out that to the Native Americans, bats represent rebirth, transformation, new beginnings, taking a journey of spiritual and personal growth, and release of old habits or ego for a new way of life. Bat symbolizes the need for letting go of a way of life that no longer suits your new growth pattern. Maybe that's why, she wrote, I received bat medicine that day.

Hmm...sounds pretty fitting to me!


(By the way, before I left I told the owner of the house to have it humanely removed. No worries. Also, the photos were taken with my cell phone camera, hence the lousy quality)



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