Today I had a nice visit with an old friend.  A girl I have known most of her life.  When she was a toddler I used to baby sit her and her sister.  They were virtually twins and afraid to ever speak when I saw them, so for years I have teased that they were the odd ball twins from The Great Outdoors. 

Fast forward a few years and I became her riding instructor.  Ashley was one of my best students.  She continued her riding career after I quit and found her self working on the Grand Prix Circuit... I'm not sure if I have the right to be, but regardless, I am very proud of her.

 

Back in the area, Ash reached out to me for a visit.  I was very excited to see her and hear about her travels.  Sadly Fox was outside and too far to go visit, but at least she got to see him alive and well at 28!

 

As we stood in the barn aisle way I noticed what looked like a sparrow soar down into the barn and land on the floor.  I thought it to be a bit odd the way it lay there, so I walked over and inspected.  It looked like a lump on the floor.  Flat, brown... it could have been a lump of manure the way it lay there.  As I moved closer we did finally agree it was a bat.  In the day time?  I was afraid to get too close and Ashley was not helping!  LOL  If I hadn't seen it sore in the way it did, I really wouldn't have known what to think.  We both felt pretty certain that it was dead, or dying.  Ash suggested maybe it drifted in from some where else, but where?  We have no trees or bat caves near by.

 

We chatted for another hour or so, and finally I'm like, we have to do something about this little thing.  Ashley suggest, and I quote, "maybe you should scoop it up violently in one quick scoop."  Violently!?  lol  Then she went on to say, we can't (WE!) put it out in the manure pile because it'll bake, so we (again, WE) should bring it to the other end of the barn and put it in the milk house where its cooler. 

 

I grabbed the snow shovel, because it seamed less menacing then the old metal shovel that was there the last time Ashley bored a horse there! and a broom... because Ashley also suggested I sweep him on there.  LOL  I walked over to the poor little lump and touched it with the shovel... it moved!  (this might actually be when she suggested the milk house for it)  I mentioned maybe she should grab my camera in case it takes off and attacks one of us.  Ashley laughed and said something about being afraid that it would fly away.  As I moved behind it, I told her I wasn't that worried about that because it's gonna fly towards her, not me!  LOL 

 

Ashley moved over behind the stacked bags of shavings and hugged the stall bars. 

 

I touched it with the lip of the shovel.  It twitched but no big movements.  I then laid the broom against his other side and it jumped forward spreading a wing slightly.  Injured I was sure of it.  I froze...did I have time to make it to my camera before it moved again...maybe towards me?!?!    In that split second, the other wing popped out and it lay there another short moment with wings spanned across.  Suddenly it took flight!  And so did Ashley Combs!  She ran down the barn aisle way in her L.L. Bean flip flops with the not so small any longer bat hot on her heels afraid to look back!  She ducked under the chain lead rope tied across the end of the barn and was gone! 

 

I watched as the winged bat chased her through the barn, yelling, "RUN!  It's chasing you!!" (slightly laughing)  As it reached the end of the barn aisle way, it made a U-ie... and came after me!!  I stood there cock eyed, knock kneed at the end of the barn, with a snow shovel in one hand, and broom in the other....and did not move!  I let the it fly towards me in awe like Batman himself were flying in slow motion through the barn!!  (I screamed maybe)  about 5 yards away, It took a hard left and ducked into the rafter between Spencer and Miracle's stalls.

 

"Ashley?  Ashley, it's gone..." silence.  "You can come back in Ash!" 

 

Now I'm looking through the windows to see if she's running spastically to her car... nothing. 

 

"Ashley!?!?!"

 

Finally she reappears at the other end of the lower barn, as just a peeking head... "Is it gone?"

 

Oh my god!  The whole thing was too funny!!

 

Later in the evening I made a reference to The Great Outdoors.  Then out of know where I remembered the part in the movie with the bat, where John Candy and Dan Akroid are trying to figure out how to catch the bat and it lands on his face!  I burst into laughter thinking about it, and how much we mimicked them this afternoon.

 

Hey Ash, if you run into a Bald bear, or a twitchy man that's been struck by lightening more then once...  LOL  oh my god!!