Over on my Facebook page, I’ve developed a habit (perhaps it’s a meme) – a rabbit habit. I post photos of the bunnies I see in my yard and around the neighborhood. Although I don’t do one every day – I don’t see one every day – I call each one my Bunny of the Day. I started a few years ago, when rabbits were more of a curiosity. Now they’re quite common, but I still enjoy seeing these fluffy little creatures, as if a Beatrix Potter book had come to life in my little city yard. Yes, they’re destructive (I tell people we put our tomato plants in cages while the rabbits run free), but I still adore them.
Recently, I’ve not seen any. I don’t want to say they’ve disappeared, because i know they haven’t. I know from previous years that they’re around. When we get snow, I’ll see their double semi-colon prints. In spring, I’ll see the tiny baby bunnies. But right now, whether it’s the cold weather or the earlier sunset that has thrown our schedules off (bunnies are crepuscular – isn’t that a great word?), they’re not showing themselves. It’s getting dark too early.
It’s already a dark season. Two friends have lost their mothers in recent weeks, older women, for whom death was perhaps a blessing, but still a deep and abiding loss. A member of the larger writing community is coping with the unimaginable loss of a child. And behind it all, the violence and hatred of these divisive times just has me in a funk. I could use a bunny siting right around now. I think we all could.
But it’s windy and stormy today, and the weather is only supposed to get worse. So I think this is just one of those times when I’ve got to hunker down and do my work, and trust that sometime soon the bunnies will re-appear. I don’t believe in much, but I believe that to be true. The bunnies are out there. Have faith. And please, if you haven’t already, vote on Tuesday.
bunny in my yard, about a month ago
Thank you,
Clea