Each Thursday at summer camp, the kids have the option to camp out on the lower field. We give these campers the whole deal - a barbeque for them and their families, songs, skits, stories, a night hike, marshmallow roasting, and of course, camping. As a staff member, I can choose to stay overnight and go home at 8:30 in the morning, or go home and stay until 4:30 on Friday. I chose to stay overnight this week. There was a bat flying around in the hallway outside the staff room for awhile. The moon was full. The kids on the night hike I led were pretty well-behaved. I slept pretty well too. In the morning, one of the kids found a small bat crawling around by the basketball court. One of my co-workers put it in a box and we moved it out of the way so the kids wouldn't bother it. Bats seen during the day can be sick, and one of the diseases they carry, as most people know, is rabies. This particular bat may have just been young and confused though.

Speaking of young and confused, one of the other groups ran afoul of a Yellowjacket nest on Thursday, and predictably, chaos ensued. I think four or five kids got stung. Not too bad, considering...

This weekend we were supposed to rehearse for the upcoming show in Seattle, but M was ill with the flu, so I took my mom up to Berkeley to see the new Central Works play, featuring G in his usual role as sound designer. The play, The Grand Inquisitor, uses a segment of Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov as a jumping off point, and was really well done. It was especially nice to see Gary, who usually confines himself to writing and directing these things, in the role of the Grand Inquisitor. He managed to transform himself quite well. Too bad about the loud wedding party nearby though.

The Tucson Blonde Tarantula molted last night too. Tarantulas achieve this end by flipping on their backs and looking quite dead. It's a very stressful time for them as well, since they are completely helpless until they have successfully molted.

And it's too damn hot. Again.