Rabbit

Every year they make our yard their home.  Families of them burrow into the long grass around our deck, safe from the weedeater because it broke and we don't have one anymore.  They are our excuse for not buying another I guess.  

Once we had a cat, a stray I named Maxwell.  When I found him, he was bony and sad but after he adopted us, he grew to almost 20 pounds and he was gorgeous.  Very majestic and confident.  His Meow was monotone and reminded me of how John Wayne responded to stupid questions in all those old Westerns. 

His purr was like a trolling motor and he wasn't stingy with it.  He would stare you in the eyes, demand to be placed on your chest so he could get in your face and you could stroke his cheeks and he would literally stare you down.  But he had his limits.  When he was done with your affection, he meant it.  You'd better stop with the petting or he'd open your flesh with his claws.  

We tried to keep him inside for the first year and while he was healing, he was fine with it.  He'd had a hard life.  There was buckshot in his hind leg and more than a few battle scars under his long, black fur.  

He got out one day and away he went.  I was sure I'd never see him again.  But he came back for supper.  He then made it known that he was now expecting to be an outdoor cat, but would come inside when it suited him.  Always for meals, but sometimes just because he wanted to be with us.

Thus began the great rabbit purge.  I won't go into what this mighty hunter did when he was roaming free.  But we did notice there were no longer rabbits in or near our yard.  

Sad, sad circle of life.

We lost Maxwell to cancer a few years later.  Word traveled slowly at first, but then after a couple of years, the rabbits returned.  They had heard about the demise of their enemy and were convinced that the little white dogs, while fast on their legs were not stealth and were only interested in the chase.

I think 2020 has us all feeling like those rabbits during the Maxwell years.  We were in a good place until IT showed up.  Ate some of us up and forced us to find new ways to live. 

It's October and Covid should be gone by now.

It'll be gone soon, right?

And like the rabbits, we'll all come home to normal.