Roses, English Ivy and the Baby Bat

I knew it would be fun to show Laurel the places I love in Iowa City, but it was even better introducing her to some of my favorite people at church: Meg and Andrew, Ellyn and Carol. It was my day off, so I surprised Vickie by appearing in the sacristy. She said, "You're here! I'll make you a bouquet for your office." As Laurel and I toured the building, we saw Vickie out in the courtyard, cutting deep red roses, English ivy and some small blue flowers. My whole office smells like an English garden.

After stoppping for some sushi, we went to the historic building on campus where my Campus ministry program offers Taize Evensong each Sunday. Outside the door was a man with a big red vacuum, into which he'd just sucked a baby bat in order to remove it from the building. There on the lawn was the bat, visibly trembling after its journey inside the big scary vacuum. Laurel and I watched as the man encouraged the bat to hang onto a large stick. Then he transferred the little thing to the top of a bird house -- which of course is no longer a bird house, at least till the bat is brave enough to fly off into the Iowa night.

It's been great to discuss leadership issues while eating our way through the day. Our last stop tonight was the best ice cream shop in eastern Iowa, which serves pumpkin ice cream every October. But we're still thinking about the bat, and I still remember the smell of those freshly cut roses, wet from the garden.