Missives from the 6th Floor

When Dawnise and I were in Australia (Kuranda, specifically) we stumbled on a privately operated bat rescue. We learned a fair bit from the lady who started the rescue and the volunteer who was assisting her about the local bat population. In particular the plight of the flying fox and local agriculture's short-sited treatment of what it considers a pest species.

We got up close and personal with both a flying fox and a tiny fruit bat - it was one several "close encounters" we had on the trip, and left a lasting impression. (Another was walking through a large park in Sydney (either Hyde Park or the Royal Botanic Gardens, I forget) around dusk - just as the bats in the canopy were waking up. It was at once majestic, inspiring, and deeply unsettling.

Listening to the NPR story this morning brought those memories flooding back, and left me deeply saddened at our inability, thus far, to understand the disease and react appropriately.

And looking at the map of Sydney makes me wanna go back.