maddiemo's adorable felt fruit bat....I'll have to find the artist. It's very precious. I used to belong to Bat Conservation International and was allowed to enter the fruit bat (flying foxes) area of the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC during feeding time in order to feed them. Major thrill of my life. When I was little, the family stayed every summer in one of the Great Camps (Pine Knot) on Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks. It was a common occurrence for a bat to show up in the living quarters, which required Dad or another of the men to snare it with a long poled fishing net in order to carry it outside. Dad would hold the little things up in his gloved hand so that we could watch him scratch their little heads and under their chins. Then, he would allow them to hang upside down from my sweater until we walked outside. Yes, I love bats.

Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.

So on the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?" And God saw it was good. On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span." The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God, again saw it was good. On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years." The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed it was good. On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years." But the human said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Okay," said God, "You asked for it." So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone. Life has now been explained to you. There is no need to thank me for this valuable information. I'm doing it as a public service. If you are looking for me I will be on the front porch...

tj