Esther put up a brave fight - full of spirit and gentle good humor to the end. But old age and a respiratory infection got the best of her this week. She gave up the fight and died peacefully on Friday.
The good vibes Esther got from her many cyberfriends meant a lot to her (and me), so her family will continue to maintain her page in her memory. Please come bac for a visit later when we've had time to grieve and recover from our great loss. In the meantime, You can read Esther's final words to her friends in her last Hip Hop Reporter column.
I apologize for my rude behavior yesterday. I was having one of those bad hare days. (ha,ha,ha. I never get tired of that joke!)
Last night I tried a new tactic - I didn't make a sound all night. It kept mom awake worrying about why I was so being so quiet! I just can't lose at this game!
Yeah, I woke mom up in the middle of the night by galloping into the bedroom sounding like a herd of miniature hopping elephants. I did it on purpose. And an hour later, I did it again. On purpose! 'Cause I'm a very wicked bunny. So whatta ya gonna do about it? Huh?
I'm one tough old bunny! Yeah, I'm a real little devil! A rascal. I'm sooooooo ba. . . . Hey! Don't stop scratching my ears! I was just getting comfortable!
Another dull, dreary day. My daily brushing was the only thing that broke up the monotony. I tried to find a sunny spot in the office and the stairway landing but the sun wasn't cooperative.
I decided to follow its example and find something soft and cloudlike to hide behind. The towels mom provided in my room for snuggling seemed to fit the bill, so I tunneled into my favorite one and stayed there for most of the day. It was as good a place as any to wait out the gloomy weather.
First, thanks to all my cyberfriends who were concerned about my health. I didn't take a turn for the worse. I was just enjoying a day off to recuperate from the "bug" I had. Mom was happy I'd rediscovered my appetite but she gave me anothe extended grooming and massage session for good measure. I felt almost as good as new.
Since mom had been so nice I offered to analyze one of her weird dreams in return. This is the one she told me:
"I was visiting my sister [Aunt Deb] and she seemed to have a lot of new animals living in the house with her. I was sitting at a huge oak table that took up most of the living room, reading the newspaper to a squirrel sitting on the table next to me.
"I came across an interesting article and said 'If I had a pencil I could write this down.' Next thing I knew the squirrel had hopped off the table, run out of the room, and returned with a partly chewed pencil in his mouth. He dropped it on the table next to me and settled down again.
"I was really impressed, but Deb just said 'Oh, that's nothing. Even the guinea pigs know where we keep all the pencils.'
Here's my analysis: Mom's NUTS!
[Between you and me, this dream analysis business is way too easy. I could be making a fortune at it if I wasn't limited to patients who can communicate with me telepathically.]
Been feeling a little under the weather lately. Mom kept trying to push food into my mouth today, which was kind of annoying. But she did let me sit on her foot for most of the afternoon while she worked at the computer. I also got an extra long brushing and massage then retired to a secret hiding place.
Feeling bad has its good points, too.
I was just minding my own business, napping in the bedroom closet last night, when suddenly - for absolutely no reason - one of mom's shoes picked a fight with me! I swear I did nothing to provoke the attack. But I certainly couldn't just sit there quietly and take it. I had to defend myself.
Things got pretty ugly. I suppose we were a bit noisy what with all the scuffling and those low-heel dress shoes have a real mean streak if you ask me. Also they don't look too comfortable, but that's a whole different issue. The point I'm making is it really wasn't my fault! It was the shoes.
Mom really has to do something about her footwear.
I'm into the second week of my semi-annual molt. It's going very well so far - clouds of black and grayish (that's my undercoat) fur are forming into cute little dust bunnies that are scattering everywhere. And some of my regular resting spots on the office carpet are developing shadowy black bunny shapes.
It's my favorite time of year. Mom's beginning to talk about "collecting all my discarded fur and knitting it into some new bunnies." Cool!
Our little brown bunny visitor was "cavorting" in the yard today. It must be the strange summer weather we're having. He thinks spring's coming back.
We watch the wild bun leap into the air, dash back and forth across the yard, twirl around in the middle of the grass, then finally hop off to retire under a bush.
I was impressed.
It's an outrage! The bunnies obviously should all have won but mom insisted all the creatures had to have an equal chance - the cats, dogs, horses were all great too. Not to mention the hamsters, guinea pig, chinchillas, and raccoons. And all the rest.
OK, so they were all great! Still, I was miffed that only 4 of the bunnies were finalists in mom's Pets for All Seasons photo contest. A lot of my favorites got cut - Bean and Cinnamon, Angel, Hopkins, Cenizo, Piglet, Sam, Licker, Hoppel, Bommel, Buster, Scoot, Ollie, Alfalfa, Black Bart, Hopscotch, Nipper, Misha, and Beans . . . how could she eliminate them!?
Anyway, mom tried to make up for her thoughtlessness with an extra long brushing and some apple for lunch, but I plan to sulk for a little longer. At least till tomorrow's morning treat.
I've been out of sync all day. I was up in the office waiting for mom and missed the whole Sunday morning ritual of cleaning my room! By the time I came down to see what was holding things up, mom had already put my cage back in its corner and the broom back in the closet. Supervising the cleanup is one of my favorite weekend activities!
Later, when I woke up from my nap and headed for my treat station, mom was just on her way out the door to do some yardwork. I ahd to make do with what was left of my morning carrot.
Then this evenin I heard mom heading for the treat station and came racing out, only to find she was collecting my brush for a grooming session. Oh well, it's not what I was looking forward to but I never pass up a nice brushing and massage.
Now that mom's getting ready for bed, I'm beginning to feel pretty frisky. Let's see what kind of mischief there is to get into here . . .
Another big day! The brown rabbit was back, munching on ivy in the back yard when mom went out to do some weeding and mow the lawn. And he didn't run away! He stood up and twitched his ears around for a while, then settled back to enjoy his meal. Sounds like a very sensible bunny.
Of course, mom decided not to mow the alwn 'cause "the mower might scare the bunny away." Yeah! Right! That old hand mower doesn't even scare the grass anymore, it's so dull! But I give her credit. It's the best excuse for not mowing mom's come up with in some time.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I visited the fuzzydog site today and saw I'd won the October Pet of the Month award! And the competition was really fierce against a whole pack of pretty awesome dogs.
I celebrated with some extra yogurt drops while I read the congratulatory e-mail messages that poured in from all the wonderful bunny people and rabbits who voted for me. [Special note to Gizmo: This is pretty much what I do every Friday night. What did you have in mind? (wink, wink)]
What a big deal over a little late night panic attack! You'd think a rabbit never woke her human up at 4 a.m. with the sound of claws scraping frantically on bare floor trying to get some traction, a fur-muffled crash of a close encounter with the door on her hasty retreat, and the clang of her food dish sliding into the storage cabinet as she skidded past on the way to safety! It's true I can't say exactly what it was that spooked me, but I'm sure it was really scarry.
Wha't the big deal? How hard could it be to get back into a sound sleep after being startled awake? I don't know anything about that "adrenalin" mom said was keeping her awake or how it got into her system at the time. Maybe she's been drinkng too much coffee.
Anyway I couldn't do anything about it. I was sound asleep again by 4:02 a.m.
I fell down the stairs today. How embarassing! I thought mom had a yogurt drop in her hand (she did, actually) and I guess I got a little carried away. I leaned too far out. I lost my footing. The next thing I knew I was sitting on mom's foot - 3 steps lower than I was expecting to be.
To add insult to injury (though really, I'm fine), mom actually PICKED ME UP and put me back at the top of the stairs, checking me out for bumps and bruises!! I appreciate the concern, of course, by I'm a big bunny - I can take care of myself, all evidence to the contrary!
Anyway, I still deny all charges of being addicted to yogurt drops. I could quit begging for them anytime I wanted to.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to rate today as about a B+. On the plus side, I had apple for lunch (my favorite) and mom even let me eat in the hall so I didn't have to interrupt my rug chewing chores. I almost figured out how to pull open the bottom dresser drawer (mom need s to oil the runners I think - it got stuck). I've been working on this project for some time and this is the first real sign of progress.
On the minus side, mom was out most of the afternoon ("working" she says) and I was really in the mood to play some office games. I hate when that happens.
Is it just me or do other bunnies think a lot of humans waste way too much time watching TV? That's valuable playtime for me. Or time when mom could be running to the frig to fetch me a nice fresh treat. I'd understand it if prime time was full of cuddly rabbits to watch, but it's not. There isn't a single rabbit starring on a prime time series, in fact.
Who invented TV anyway? It wasn't a bunny, that's for sure. We'd have seen to it that every station programmed lots of gardening shows, for one thing, and none of those nature shows glorifying those glamorous predator types - they already get too much publicity. Why not some nice quiet nature shows about bunny families in the wild - grazing, hopping, twitching our ears, sleeping and courting (but only after the family hour, of course). It could be very exciting, I think - some real must-see TV.
Listen, these recent rumors that I have some kind of "weight problem" have really gotten out of hand. Okay, so it's getting a little harder to stand up straight on my hind legs and hop around in my traditional "hurry up and feed me" dance. But it's not true that I often lose my balance and fall over - it's just a new step I'm trying out. I haven't quite worked the bugs out yet.
And I don't eat too many snacks! I limit myself to only as much as I can extort from mom. Plus, those yogurt drops are low-cal (I'm sure) and they're not very big, either. I'm really not a big eater. I just eat a little bit at a time maybe 10 or 20 times a day - say, 30 times tops!
I may LOOK a little plump sometimes, but that's just fur. My coat's getting thicker - much thicker. It's a double coat, really. That's all it is. I'm not getting fat.
Absolutely nothing interesting happened yesterday and today it happened again.
Our wild bunny visitor returned to the yard, but I didn't see him. Mom said he was much bigger now and looking very healthy and well-fed. Hey, maybe that's where my yougurt drops are going! I knew they were disappearing too fast.
I just don't trust that big black plastic trash can in the office. Just this morning I was minding my own business, nibbling on the rug in the hall when, out of the corner of my eye I saw it creeping down the stairs. Mom said she was carrying it down to empty the trash, but I don't buy it. There's something sinister about its black shiny surface - you never know what it's thinking.
Later I discovered it sitting in my favorite sunning spot, on the second floor landing. I was just hopping over for a nice sunbath when suddenly, without a word of warning, it was towering over me, blocking my sun! Sure mom claimed she left it there 'cause she didn't feel like going up to the third floor to put it in its corner, but all the same I felt a lot safer under the bed until it was gone. I just don't trust it.
I'm not an aggressive bunny by nature but, frankly, when mom forget to bring me my yogurt drops from the kitchen for the SECOND TIME in one day, I was hopping mad.
I don't think I was out of line to follow her up the stairs, poking at her heels. I had a point to make. She claims I was trying to trip her - I wasn't (though the thought crossed my mind). I remember the last time mom fell down the stairs (and I had absolutely nothing to do with it - I swear!), she was hobbling around the house for weeks acting pathetic and definitely not in a cheerful state of mind. That kind of attitude does nothing to advance my personal agenda, which is get my treats regularly.
Still, I was mad as heck and didn't want to be ignored. And with all her complaining about my "attitude problem" she finally came around and made another trip to the frig to retrieve the required treat. Hey, that's all I was asking for!
I had a nice face massage and ear rub this afternoon to get all the kinks out. It was a tense morning what with a pile of e-mail to be read and answered, rugs to be chewed, and my Monday inspection to conduct. The phone kept ringing and breaking my concentration. What a relief to be able to kick back and enjoy my massage. It sent me into a pleasant bunny trance that left me in a very mellow mood for the evening.
We had another squirrel incident over the weekend. One of our baby attic squirrels must have taken a wrong turn on the roof and seemed convinced he had to come through our third-floor office to get back home. He chattered and poked and scratched and climbed all over the window screen trying to get in. Mom couldn't persuade him that he needed to take another route back to his nest. They were practically nose to nose and the little guy just wouldn't back off. Until mom got the bright idea to run and get the camera. Sure enough, when she returned with camera in hand the would-be invader was nowhere to be seen.
I think its one of those laws of nature - you know, creatures do the most amazing things only when you don't have a camera handy.
Hooray! Cool weather! I love the fall!
I took yesterday off to celebrate the full moon. Rabbits have always had a special relationship with the moon. Back in medieval times were were even rumored to change into witches in the moonlight, but it's been centuries since we've practiced that sort of thing.
I just used the time to rest and look over mom's pictures from the Horse show she went to last weekend. I picked a few out to put on my page (check out the Neighbors3 section). I also snatched a birthday card someone sent mom. I'm sure it was intended for me because it has a really cool bunny on the front. I snuck it onto my bulletin board.
I can't believe it! Mom had the nerve to offer me wilted lettuce for breakfast. Fortunately, apple was served for lunch so all was forgiven - until dinnertime when I received a defective yogurt treat! It had a small chip on one side, which means I was cheated out of at least 1% of the full yogurt drop!! It's days like these that I wish we had a complaint department around here. Sulking is my only recourse.
I'm starting to get that itch to shed again - not the routine kind of shedding all furry creatures practice on a daily basis, but the heavy-duty molting that we're preoccupied with once or twice a year. The kind that produces those handsful of floating fur that settle all over the house like so many dust bunnies.
Mom doesn't approve. She suggested that, just to be different, I try keeping my old fur and just growing in my winter coat over the summer coat. Obviously, she knows nothing about maintaining a healthy, luxurious coat. No self-respecting bunny would even think of hanging on to an out-of-season coat - it's just not done! Also, shedding is lots of fun. When the urge comes we just can't resist it! I feel my fur loosening up already.
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