dispatch #4: oregon zoo, portland

well the kids are here at long last. i think they grew a collective foot taller since i saw them last (it seems like years) & i realized how depressed i was without them near once i held them in my arms.

if you don't know my kids, you are really missing something. they are AMAZING. i can say this without the slightest trace of bias.

witness:

oregon zoo, portland, oregon, the "bat cave":
boy (soon to be 4 years old): what is THAT one doing?

me (considerably older): it's mating with that other one, the female. wow, that is incredible! this is something you don't see every day.

boy: if you are a bat [you do].

me (to daughter, age 7): check this out. the bats are mating.

daughter: right here?

me: yeah

female bat now getting occasionally miffed @ the agressiveness of the male & turning to squawk & nip at him.

daughter: she's like saying, "get off me!"

me (laughing): totally.

all, staring, fascinated: that is SO cool.

* * * *
ok. maybe that didn't translate too well. or maybe it did. @ any rate, i am just so happy that these amazing little things are a part of my life. (the kids, i mean, tho the bats obviously got it goin' on.)