Every Silver Lining

You know what they say, "Every silver lining has its cloud." For example, all the rain late last week was really good for the local flora, and since we eat the flora you could say it was good for us fauna as well. But it also left us sopping wet and cold and flushed many of us out of our normal lairs and into the open where we were in danger of bird flu, as in, "then this bird flu out of nowhere and grabbed Manny in his talons and carried him away!"

So the sun finally comes out and things get dry and warm — kinda spring-like. So we're feeling kind of frisky and start visiting our neighbors and doing what rabbits do: eating the plants that are springing up due to the warmth and recent rain. That's the silver lining part. The cloud part isn't actually a cloud, but the shadow of a Brobdignagian SUV (which I think stands for Suburban Uhsalt V-hickle). I can't begin to tell you how many of my fellow denizens of the lawn have been run over recently.

Well, okay, I can begin, if you really want to know. There was Manny — no, not that Manny, another one — and Fred on Sunday, then Jerome and Jerald, the twins, on Monday. And today, Alice. And that's just within a block or two!

It's supposed to be warm again tomorrow. I hope folks are paying attention and stop running out into the streets. Otherwise it's going to be a lonely spring.

Blub

I am a Sylvilagus Floridanus, not a Leptodactylus somethingorother! In other words, I'm not a bloody frog! In fact, I'm not any sort of amphibian. I am an Eastern Cottontail — a rabbit.

One of the reasons I picked this particular yard, besides the strong Wi-Fi signal, is because they have neither dogs nor cats nor pool. Not that I have anything against dogs or cats or pools. Let's just say that I'm not in the habit of hanging around with critters that want to have me for dinner. Notice, please, that I didn't say that they want to have me over for dinner, they want to have me for dinner.

But I digress. We were talking about not being amphibian. Pools take up a lot of a backyard, and what isn't taken up by pool and deck is usually given over to some low maintenance garden. The plants in such gardens are sometimes good places to hide or to raise babies, but not so good for eating. And since I am not, as I've said, an amphibian, the pool holds no other attraction for me.

So I found this nice backyard with lots of yummy grass, no dogs or cats, and a fence to provide protection against dogs and most (lazy) cats.

And then what happens?

It rains. A lot. 3½ inches. I thought this was Texas. I thought we were in a drought. 3½ inches isn't a friggin' drought!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5. Sorry 'bout that. I'm trying to calm down now. 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10. There. Deep breath. Yes, I'm much more prone to rapid breathing, but I'm trying.

You see, as I've said before, I'm not an amphibian. Come to think of it, I'm not a duck, either. But the past day or so has definitely been frog and duck weather. I'm cold. I'm wet. I'm not happy.

But the sun has come out today and I'm hopeful that I'll be dry and warm soon.

Is this working?

The people in the big house got Wi-Fi. Finally!

You'd think that in this day and age, and especially in this community, that everyone would have Wi-Fi by now. But No-oooooo! Judging from the signal levels here in the backyard, I'm surrounded by a bunch of Luddites.

And then, wouldn't you know it? They turned on security! Sheesh! What's a rabbit got to do to get on the internet? Luckily for me, the grey one wanted to test his connection from outside and he left his notes when he went back in. I was able to copy down his SSID and pass phrase before he came back to get them.

So I finally get to tell my story. Maybe you'll learn a few things. Maybe even tolerance. I can hope, can't I?