Monday Mantra

"Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death."

Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame

Grand words from a grand movie starring a Grand Lady......just like my Tango.

The Christmas Goose

Does simply a bad word from someone wreck your day? Is your chin always down, do your feet drag? If someone says something you don't agree with do you decide to hate them forever? Do you spend too much time thinking about how the world is a terrible place and everything is unfair? Do you focus on all the horrors and the sorrow?

Look at ole Mills. She does none of these things. She had one leg pinned, she now has a mysterious spinal injury and drags the other leg, she is older and doesn't feel too great most of the time. I bet she never spent a day thinking about bad stuff. Nah, no way. Animals are smart enough to know what a waste that truly is. Animals don't bother with politics and philosophy, they simply are. (neither do little children by the way) I suggest they are the ones that have it all figured out.

An old and ex-friend found out a few months ago that he had cancer. He now tells everyone he is going to die. The doctors caught it early, he is cancer free and recovering nicely but he is still convinced death is eminent. I pity him this holiday season and beyond because for him there will never be anything wonderful or good about life, despite the fact that he has a nice and paid for home, someone who loves him, 2 furry companions and money in the bank. He refuses to give at Christmas because "nobody ever gave me anything"......PPFFFFFT.

Another friend shared with me recently that she was abused as a child. She seldom got a present for Christmas ( and I am sorry to say she may not have ever experienced the excitement of Santa) and was very very poor. Yet everything single thing about her life and attitude is filled with goodness. She shares everything she has and finds the beauty in life, the satisfaction from a little comfort and the knowing that you are lucky if just one person loves you. Some spend years pondering on how their life went wrong and some just grab the ball and run with it. I consider myself very lucky to have people like her to balance out the sorrow eaters and the folks that are always falling on the sword.

I am taking the long way around to tell you about my Christmas gift. I always say I don't need anything and I don't, nothing material anyway. Having a few extra coins I can share is my Christmas pleasure. I am no saint or anything special. I share because I have always had more than I needed, even when times are tough, I still have enough. Seems to me people have been more generous this year. I love the stories of the layaway angels (if you haven't heard about this, please google it)

I cannot stand and weep at every animal that gets killed in the road but I can pull the car over to offer some assistance when needed. Some of you who are on facebook know about the Canada Goose lady that got hit by a car. Her beak was broken, her face was filled with blood and part of her tongue cut off. I couldn't just leave her there to die, I am no hero but felt duty bound to offer her a chance or at least a better death than freezing and dying in pain on the side of the highway. I pulled over and gently gathered her up and raced her out to the wildlife rehab. Massive head trauma. The next 10 to 12 days are critical.

Got word a few days ago that Goose Lady will live. She will spend the winter at the wildlife rehab and be released back into the wild when she is all better. Her survival is my Christmas gift this year. My something wonderful. The picture and article I have about her is in adobe so I could not figure out how to post it but if you want to read it, drop me an email and I will forward it to you. I feel so very pleased and happy that she will make it. It wasn't just her second chance but another chance for me. I accidently ran over and killed a turtle this summer. Miss Goose added the weight to balance that out, to keep the carousel going around. Thank you Goose girly.

I have tons of favorite books, quotes, movies etc. My very favorite story will always be A Christmas Carol. Its all about second chances. Not people giving you second chances or you giving them second chances but you recognizing for yourself when a second chance comes along and not turning your nose up at it. Your chance to balance the weight and keep the carousel going around.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season and leave you with this:

There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round - apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that - as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!

"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour."- Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol

Monday Mantra

" The heart that truly loves never forgets.”

Proverbs

Creatures Revealed

Yep two gray fox eating the nuts and bird seed. I have only seen them once and I have written to our local wildlife rehab to inquire about them. We live next to a very busy highway so if needed I will take the feeders down for a week or so. I dont want to see them get run over coming to eat. They are beautiful and apparently the gray fox is the only canid that will climb trees.

Wha Cha Lookin At?

I was greeted by this sight in the backyard tonight. I know what creatures the eyeballs belong to. Can you guess what they are?

Surprises All Around

Whoosh is not a lionhead...he is a "Mo Hair" bun cuz he has mo hair than I have ever seen. LOL

Surprises in the mail yesterday! Shell at http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/ sent me and the bun gang these wonderful gifts. Whoosh gave kisses to the stuffed bunny ornament before it went on the tree and was disappointed but felt better after his nana snack. Look at the precious card. Unexpected gifts are always the most fun! Thank you Shell for always being so kind.

I am not a crier, not really. I prefer to weep in private and hate bawling in front of others. Its just something I learned early on from my Dad (it wasnt really intentional on his part but we learn from our parents you know and gawd do I hate talking about my "feelings" yark) But sometimes things strike just right and boy do you just let it all hang out.

You have seen all the usual toy drives every year? The retail stores with their boxes out collecting for kids? I am just like most of the folks in America (and everywhere I suppose) living mostly paycheck to paycheck but always try to purchase a little something every year and put it in the box. We were always so lucky as kids at Christmas and I remember my Dad selling the few pitiful stocks his company gave him to buy us something nice. The excitement of my first "big girl" bike and my Dad grinning and saying "ride like the wind Chrissy" and did I ever.

As I walked past the box yesterday there was a BIG pink bike sitting there. I know that bike cost a lot more than any of the other toys in that box and the generosity of the person pleased me to no end. Not because bigger is better but maybe for a kid that never had a bike you know? The tag attached said "for a girl age 11 to 12....somebody had scrawled at the bottom....."ride like the wind"

I guess you can picture me walking around Wal Mart crying like an idiot. Oh man, that girl is going to love that bike. Unexpected gifts for her and for me...

Monday Discovery

Above is a bunny I never knew. Haven before head tilt

My Haven

Today was another "aha" day for me. Our director sent me some pictures of Haven from 2005. They were pictures of Haven before head tilt struck him. I never met that Haven. I kept staring at them all day, trying to figure out the difference. Why the "old" Haven was so unfamiliar to me.

Then I got it. The "old" Haven had a touch of mistrust in his eyes. Probably put there by no telling what happened to him before he was dumped at a feed store for snake food the day our director found him.

My Haven trusted me completely. He had no choice. He was totally vulnerable and he knew it so he handed it over. I didnt have to earn it, he just gave it to me. It has forever humbled me in ways I cant describe. My little angel, struggling to get to his feet to greet me every morning and then when he really couldnt get to his feet anymore, still raising his sweet little head up to get a good look at me and then lick his front feet in response to my "how is my sunshine this morning?"

Not a bad day at all today, surely not a sad one. Haven was a gift from fate that allowed me to learn something very valuable. As long as you have breath and hope and 1 person that cares for you....you will NEVER be defeated. This post is dedicated to Hope. She was Haven's neighbor and for all the world his twin. Same size, same color and same tilty sweet head. Hope passed on right after I started volunteering at Heartland. I wish I could have given her a few more gifts.

Monday Mantra:

"Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love."

Morihei Ueshiba

Well would you look at that

Whoosh loves his little bear and he loves a pillow to perch on. I gave him an early Christmas present thinking he would love the combo. He sits next to it and furiously licks the foot of his ratty old bear. (belonged to Nemo at one time) He doesn't know what to think of this large and colorful thing in his house. Somebody talk to him please.

Monday Mantra

Nemo.....his little light still beams bright. RIP

"How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world".

William Shakespeare

Six Word Friday

LSU will take the Dome again!

(Off blog topic here. I took a challenge. Bear with me. Its a challenge to use 6 words only with a photo)

Thanksgiving

>

I am thankful for many things. I try to remind myself every single day when I get out of bed to be grateful for at least one good thing in my life, no matter what might be happening at the time. I have to remind myself that I have it good and others have nothing.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Melody Beattie

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Hey Mom!

" You almost forgot to tell everyone I have been with you 4 years today!"

No I didnt Duds Around Town. I love you my shy boy. (Mr. King of the box got his favorite yummies to celebrate today. A piece of dried pineapple and 1 animal cracker)

"But I wanted 2 animal crackers mom"

These furry kids are never satisfied. "sigh"

Just For A Good Laugh

My silly friend Lincoln took this picture. He said he was making Thanksgiving for the family. Oh did I laugh and laugh at him. Typical bachelor.

Monday Mantra

To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.”

Katharine Hepburn

An Early Giving of Thanks.

I have been wanting to write for a bit about my favorite blogs and why I love them. I learn things, laugh, and find wonderful what nots and doodads sometimes. So in no particular order:

My friend Carolynn at http://aglowingember.blogspot.com/. I started following her blog a few years ago. She sees beauty in places others might not look. Her dream of giving up the city life and moving to a country cottage came true and the pictures are stunning. She lives there with her husband and 2 gorgeous catty kits. (along with a feral kitty, bears and other wildlife)

Rabbits Guy and Bunny Lady are one of the most fun http://houseofrabbits.blogspot.com/
9 house bunnies and 1 good Kitty Boy, their blog is just a wonderful tribute to the bunny good life. Stop by sometime and visit, then tell me which bunny looks like Walter Matthau and which bun reminds you of the opposite but twin to Groucho Marx.

Juliet at http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/ is my green blogging friend from Scotland. Her blog is so pretty as well as educational for me. She takes students on nature walks and boy do I wish I could walk along with them.

Shell at http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/ also has two wonderful bunnies and a great blog. She is creative and just gives off a "good" kinda feeling. (I mean that I get a good feeling that she is good, ya know?)

Carmen at http://waxedoutcreativelife.blogspot.com/ is one of my most faithful followers. A terrific Grammy, she also has buns and a German Shepherd name of Kiah who is special needs. Carmen makes her own soaps and candles and I love to smell her blog. (ha ha, I really think I can smell it sometimes)

My Auntie Pix at (she isnt really my aunt but I have always felt a connection to Miz Pix and her place is Missou REE) http://sweetdaysundertheoaks.com/ Her eye for beauty is amazing. Her pictures never fail to take my breath away and her love of nature just bubbles all over her blog.

Jim at http://thebunlife.blogspot.com/. What can I say.....he is the most irreverent bunny blogger out there. Some folks get it and some folks dont. I got it right away. If you want to laugh your butt off at a blog read this one. He will try and convince you to take Baby Fwan though so look out and dont be fooled. He would fight crocodiles with his bare hands for his furry kids.

Vegan Elder at http://veganelder.blogspot.com/. He has a very individual take on life and animals. He and his wife share their home with a great bunny girl named Nessie Rae and 2 outstanding catty kits, Gracie and Bobby Ray. I dare you to stop by and read sometime. I know this blogger personally and NOBODY cares more for animals and the planet.

Bridget at http://heartofacowgirl.blogspot.com/. Her place in AZ is filled with love for animals and creating. 5 bonded buns, horse kids, a good kitty, 2 terrific dogs, chickens, goats...you name it. Bridget makes fantastic jewelry and her place is a safe haven for any creature in need.

Annette at http://dragonhouseofyuen.blogspot.com/ is another friend in Scotland (it is my destiny to visit one day) Annette creates bunnies and writes fun hare stories. She was one of the biggest cheerleaders for my Haven and I love her for it.

Nick at http://getnickt.blogspot.com/. I am always surprised when he stops by my blog. He is a published author and his blog is a little about everything. He has a new book out and comes up with some funny takes on politics and such.

Lisa at http://citybun.blogspot.com/ She is a great lady that lives in Queens with bunnies Sogna and Biffy. Lisa works her butt off and goes to law school. She is going to be one of those voices and defenders the world will need.

Debi at http://greenerpastures--acitygirlgoescountry.blogspot.com/ is a Jersey girl that found herself transplanted in West Virginia. She is trying to sell her place there and get back to Jersey. I crack up at Debi all the time.

Brian at http://theurbancowboy.net/ You will find a little of everything on his blog too. A gentle natured cowboy, he says what he thinks and has never deleted one of my snarky comments.

A few of the other blogs I always stop and visit are:
http://renorabbits.blogspot.com/
http://babette-rabette.blogspot.com/
http://theqipapers.blogspot.com/
http://bunnyman09.blogspot.com/
http://clovieboy.blogspot.com/
http://artinthewind.blogspot.com/

There have been some really great blogs out there that sadly the folks arent blogging anymore.


And last but always FIRST in my mind and heart:http://heartlandbunnyblog.blogspot.com/ and if you dont know why.......you havent been reading my blog. I assume I dont have to explain.

Thanks to all my blogging friends (even the ones I didnt mention here) You have shared your lives with me over the years. Taught me important lessons and cheered for me and the buns countless times.

Monday Mantra

But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked."Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.""How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice."You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 6)

Its The Little Things.....And The Little People

Let me tell you I am a cynic. I am a realist and don't really look for the best in people. Kids seem to lose their innocence and reverence for things early on these days. Today I got a little lesson in cynicism

I stopped by the cemetery to say hello to my dad and check his flowers. (Oklahoma winds you know) There was a yellow flower on his foot stone. I didn't think much of it. I could hear the chattering of young girls voices over the hill and a happy dog bark. Wasn't paying that much attention really. I just hoped the dog wasn't hiking his leg on the headstones or the kids weren't being destructive.

Three young girls came over the hill. I would guess their ages at about 12 for two of them and maybe 9 for one little one. Following in their wake was a black lab fur kid with a big ole grin on her face. All I could think was "MAN, I want a minute alone here".

A sweet little voice floats across the grave markers. "Do you like the flower?" I looked up to see them all clutching a handful of yellow flowers. I told her I liked it very much and asked them what they were doing. And it goes like this:

"My Grandpa is here, he was in the army."

"We stopped to say we love you to him"

"Then we decided to say I love you to all the guys from the Army"

My dad was in the Air Force, not the army. I did not correct her. I only told her I thought that was a very nice thing for them to do and walked away. I couldn't speak anymore.

Monday Mantra

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy

Shakespeare

(Thanks Carolynn)

Bragging Rights

I had the honor of being invited to guest blog on The Urban Cowboy. Hop over and give it read friends! Brian has a blog of many colors.

http://theurbancowboy.net/

I Gots Nothing........Here is a bunny

Whoosh and I would appreciate it if the ground would stop shaking in Oklahoma. We arent used to this crapola.

What Makes Your Heart Smile?

Darby

I wanted to share this little girl's story. It made my heart smile. This one is dedicated to Arabella and to Briseis. Godspeed on your journeys across the bridge precious ones.
This is Darby's tale....told by her Dad.

A very special gift was given to me in 2003, when a tiny brown lop girl named Darby came to live with me.

Darby was born to a breeder, and we think that very early in her life her mother was under a tremendous amount of stress from overcrowding and poor living conditions, and turned on Darby and nibbled away her tail, feet and parts of her hind legs. Missing all but one of her toes, one leg was nearly an inch shorter than the others, making standing and walking very difficult for her.

Despite her physical problems, Darby enjoyed life more than almost any other rabbit I have known. She struggled mightily to stand up and move around as best she could, but most of the time ended up dragging herself across the floor in order to be with the other bunnies. In her mind she was a perfectly normal bunny, and she saw no reason why she couldn't act like a normal bunny.

Special needs bunnies are indeed special in so many ways, but maybe the most important way is how very loving and trusting they are of people. They usually require extra care and handling and thus the bond that forms between them and their caregiver is one of absolute trust and affection. Darby radiated pure love and goodness to me every single day that I had her. Stroking her soft fur sent her into spasms of total bliss and joy and she wiggled and squirmed with delight. When I scratched her ears or massaged her back, her eyes would close and for a little while, she would go to a place where her physical problems didn't exist.

Toward the end Darby's frail, tiny body began to fail, but not her spirit. I returned home one evening to find my beautiful little girl had peacefully and quietly gone to the Bridge, where I have no doubt she can run faster and jump higher than any other rabbit there.

Steve Guida

The Halloween Poem

The Dead Hitchhiker

Whoosh is ready to hear a scary story.

Since I received thousands of requests to hear about the dead guy hitching (okay 2 requests) here we go.

There is about an 8 mile stretch of 2 lane highway between my house and the interstate I take to work every day. 15 years ago that piece of highway was dark, there were no houses, no streetlights, nothing, just farmland. It is a pretty flat road in places. With my brights on I could see for quite a ways.

I used to get off work about 3am. I was driving along that highway on my way home just about 15 years ago. Suddenly in the center of the highway (now who the hell hitchhikes in the middle of the road?) a man was standing with his thumb out. I can recall him perfectly: blond hair, late twenties, beige dockers, light colored, long sleeve button down shirt. I had my bright lights on. I could see for a long way and then he was just there, out of nowhere.

I did not brake but swerved like crazy around him. When I looked in the rear view mirror he was gone. I was so freaked out all the way home. I was convinced he was going to show up in the backseat of my car. I just KNEW it. (I wrote a fictional short story about it later and got an honorable mention from some magazine, cant remember which one) In the story I wrote, he did end up in the backseat and it ended badly for me.

I can still picture him. There were no broken down cars anywhere, there were no houses, nothing. Where did he come from? Hmmmmmmmmm. I researched that road. It is nicknamed "cemetery road" but nobody out here where I live seems to know why. There isnt a graveyard on it. So?

What about you? Do you believe in ghosts? Ever seen one?

Happy Halloween

Monday Mantra X2

“By golly, life's too darn short to waste time trying to please every meddlesome moron who's got an idea how I ought to be! I don't need advice! Everyone can just stay out of my face!”

Bill Watterson

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
~William James

For Pix and For Fun

My sweet friend Pix at http://sweetdaysundertheoaks.com/ ( if you want to see stunning photography stop by and visit) has challenged me to reveal 7 things about myself to you my blogging friends. Hmmmm, lets see.

1. When I first started college I was a Poly-SCI major: I wanted to be a lawyer, lobbyist or in the CIA.

2. You may already know this one but.....Clowns make my skin crawl. I was twice attacked by clowns.

3. I could care less if the toilet paper hangs over or under. Not in the slightest.

4. I once ate Menudo and almost threw up.

5. I have tasted all my bunny meds and all their food. Yes I have and it still wasn't as gross as the menudo.

6. I constantly have dreams that my teeth fall out.

7. I think I saw a dead guy hitchhiking along a road.

There ya have it.

Blog Action Day

I wanted to take part in Blog Action Day. You can read about it here:

http://blogactionday.org/ if you are inclined. The topic is about food. You can discuss it in whatever fashion you want. There are participants from all over the world writing on various issues regarding food. I have read quite a few of them. I am not a writer like some of these folks are. I can say a few clever things, make a point, completely screw up the punctuation and move on. I usually write about what I love and food is easy.

I love sweets. Always have. I love comfort food and southern food. Italian is another favorite. Wine, pasta and bread can make me very happy. As can the pecan pie pictured above. But what I want to talk about for a minute is the fact that we have too much food and spend too much time griping (especially as women) about having too much.

Lately I have been reading a lot about the famine in eastern Africa. It was all over the news for about a minute. Yes, for a minute. I don't like seeing the pictures so I didn't post any. My blog is not political and it is my personal safe space. But I really want to take part in this conversation. My topic? Too much food.

I have too much food. I eat too much food. I eat far too many sweets. I love veggies but don't eat enough of them. I find comfort in food. Then I complain about the 30lbs or so I need to lose. There are children all over the world today who have had nothing to eat. I will go to bed with my stomach full. My bunnies tummies will be full. I have never in my entire life had to go without food for 1 single day.

Women all over today will look in the mirror and gripe because they are eating too much. They are "fat" and their butts are too big, their thighs, their arms. Here is the good news: If you catch the flu or some other relatively benign virus you will live through it and survive in part because of the extra weight.

We are too fat of a nation in America. We are killing ourselves with food. Obesity is a huge problem. We are also doing harmful things to our food. Pesticides, hormones and antibiotics are doing incredible amounts of damage to the humans and the animals. There are problems with too much farming.

Large parts of our day are spent thinking about food. Where will we eat, what will we cook, what we are hungry for....

Think about it a little today. When you look in the mirror be thankful that you have enough food. Don't look at the wiggly parts but be happy that you have them. Think about the people today that would be happy to have a bowl of plain white rice or a plate of beans, a cup of fresh clean water or even a couple of plain crackers. Be grateful.

Thanks to Blog Action Day for letting me participate and Thank you to Crafty Green Poet for letting me know about it. You can check out her blog here: http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com

My Very Favorite Tango Story ( Reprint from May 2008, Heartland's blog)

You Tawkin To Me?




Tango causes a lot of fear and trauma when I take her to the vet. Everyone is very alarmed by her. Anyway, today was nail trim day for Tango and Nemo. The puppy spa is about a 1/2 a block from my house. I tucked Nemo in my hoodie and zipped up and off we went. Easy, easy done in five minutes and back home.

The lady that usually does it was out and her husband was there. I told him I was going home to get my big girl and that she was a handful. He said "no problem, I have trimmed a raccoon's nail so a little bunny wont be a problem" I told him I just wanted to warn him but he didn't listen. So I go home and get Miss Tango and put her in the carrier. (she wouldnt fit in my hoodie and would whip my butt if I tried) When we walk in I told him we needed to go into a room and that I needed her carrier to be on a table when I took her out. He seemed skeptical still. Poor man. I reach in to get her out and she does her usual growling and thumping at the back of the carrier with all her might. His eyes got big as saucers."Is she growling"? "I have never heard a rabbit growl before" (his voice shaky and squeaky suddenly) So I get her out and he says "holy crap". I tried to tell him!!!!!!! Every time he trimmed a toenail she grunted and tried to bite him. I honestly thought he was going to cry. It was over pretty fast. He didn't charge for it because her back feet didn't need trimming and I am fairly sure he just wanted her out. He said as I was leaving " Do you have anymore like her at home"? I laughed and said yes but I wasn't bringing Mojo in because she didn't need a trim. (Mojo is big but NOTHING like Tango but I wanted him to worry a bit.) Next time I think I will bring them both at the same time and see how he reacts. Cant help myself. It was so much fun. Tango doesn't scare me at all but she sure scares the heck out of everyone else. Raccoon Smaccoon. Just had to share that story with you all.

When Tango was spayed her vet Dr. Rachel leaned down to open her carrier. Tango rushed from her carrier and jumped on Dr. Rachel's back. She ran willy nilly around the room, grunting and honking and it took 4 or 7 (lol, depending on whose version of the story you believe) to catch her. They dreaded seeing her at the vet. I learned very quickly to trim those nails myself. Tango eventually turned out to have the sweetest disposition of the trio.

Miss you so much sweet girl. Miss you so much.......

Tango Girl

Sometimes without warning things happen. My beautiful baby girl Tango left suddenly for the bridge early this am. Without a sign of illness. We played until the wee hours last night and she gave kisses and ate her dinner with gusto. We are left scratching our heads and with heavy hearts.

Loved you with all my heart big girl. Rest In Peace

Monday Mantra

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

When Rabbits (and Squirrels) Attack...Among other things

My lovely friend Michelle at http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/ is a Textile Folk Artist. She made these sweet pumpkins and when I commented on her blog how much I like pumpkins.....she sent it to me. I have received so many wonderful handmade items from my fellow bloggers. I envy their creativity.

Big Thank You to Michelle. Stop by sometime and visit her bunnies: Sir Walter Harrington and Lady Hannah Goldenhare

Millie was out and about in the yard a few days ago. She always goes to the bushes in the back where I feed the birds and squirrels. While I was trying to talk her in to coming out from under the bush out of the corner of my eye I see a squirrel just a few feet away. Mr. Brushy Tail was sitting up and watching her like a hawk. He did NOT appreciate her proximity to his peanuts. I was concerned he might charge her but I should have known. Mille lunged at the squirrel. I caught her quickly and he fled in outrage and fear. What WAS this big white creature with the ticked off look on its face?

I was mowing a few hours later when something hit the top of my head. I looked up and a pecan nailed me in the forehead. Mr Brushy Tail was throwing green pecans at me. Yes, he was aiming at my head. Now I made sure he had food and water all through the summer and this is the gratitude I get? PFFT....Squirrels must be a lot like bunnies. I swear I heard him laughing.

Mills and Whoosh despise each other. Whoosh spends his nights finding ways to break out of his playpen and tussle with Millie Mouse. They both sport bite marks. The little stinkers. I have NEVER not been successful at bonding dammit! These two clowns will be the death of me.

As you can tell by the changes my favorite time of year has arrived. My pumpkins are out and so are my mums. Love me some Halloween. Let the ghost hunting and spookiness begin!

One of my fellow bloggers is going through a tough time right now. I am sending her a big ole hug and a reminder that sometimes despite our best intentions things dont work out like we hope. I cant say who she is but I want her to know I think about her everyday.

Everyone enjoy your weekend and the cool fall air.

Have you read the news?

Its International Rabbit Day! (well, it was Sunday but I was having trouble posting to blogger)

Love you Albright, RIP

Whoosh has his first Monday Mantra

Grandma calls me Mr. Fritz
And Jackie Kennedy? Huh?


“Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve”

Erich Fromm

Final Thoughts On Today

Many people have commented that we should "move on" from today. The world always moves on, always.

When someone you love dies and the world doesnt want you to stop and remember them, it is hurtful.

If someone you love dies or if they were brutally murdered and you wanted to have a day of remembrance for them and someone rolled their eyes and said "we need to move on". What do you say to that?

I remember not being able to contact my brother on 9/11. He worked in Oklahoma City and I had thoughts of the Murrah building in my head. I remember holding my breath waiting for another plane to hit. The panicked tweaked feeling until my phone rang.

My brother died 3 months later from a cancer he was fighting during the historic events of 9/11. I dare someone to tell me to "move on" and not remember.

I will never be too busy or too hardened or too selfish to stop and remember that day and the people who died.

September 11

To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell, Hallowed Ground

Meet Wuschel "Whoosh" Wha-tootsie Cattywumpus Mcgruder

The newest addition to the tribe. Isnt he handsome?

Whoosh is around 4 or 4 1/2. As a little baby he was found roaming a construction site. He was brought to Heartland. He was adopted, then returned, adopted again and returned again. Whoosh was bonded to a beautiful Dutch girl named Isa. That sweet girl went across the bridge a few months ago. Poor baby has lost so many times.

Not anymore Whoosh! You are a permanent member of the family kiddo and will be with us forever. We dont return bunnies like pants that dont fit.

Whoosh is very shy but will enjoy many privileges here. I hope to see a binky very soon.

Please welcome him to the blog!

Coming Soon!

New bun moving in soon. Stay tuned!

Millie is relieved (or really ticked off?)

While it isnt done yet and all reports are not yet in.....We heard from Lisa in Long Island and they are A-okay. We heard from family in NC and they are A-okay. Still waiting on Shell at Rasberry Rabbits?????? (suspect they are without power)

Some are already suggesting that warnings and evacuations were over-blown and people overreacted. I only have one word for them. "BULLSH*T

We will take better safe than sorry any time.

A Message to My Friends and Family on the East Coast

I am thinking of you....Lisa and Michelle, Donnie and family. Please stay safe and if you are in an area that is threatened by Irene....Please heed the warnings and make yourselves safe!

Help is on the way

I have my mother's dreams, I have my father's eyes
You can't take that from me, just go ahead and try
The crescent city sleeps while giants in the sky
Preparing to unleash, let loose a mighty cry

Can nobody save us? Will anyone try?
The bayou is burning, the cypress has died
And all along they're saying

Help is on the way (They said, they said)
Help is on the way (They said, they said)
Hold my hand to help see right there in front of me
Help is on the way

Five thousand feet below as black smoke engulfs the sky
The ocean floor explodes, eleven mothers cry
My bones all resonate a burning lullaby
You can't take that from me, just go ahead and try

She stands at the shoreline with hands in the air
Her words pierce the dark light, does anyone care?
And all along they're saying

Help is on the way (They said, they said)
Help is on the way (They said, they said)
One by air, two by sea, right there in front of me
Help is on the way

Right here, right here
Right here, right here
Right here, right here

Choking on the black gold upon which we rely
We keep axes in the attics to see cameras in the sky

Help is on the way, they said, they said
Help is on the way, they said, they said

We were told just to sit tight 'cause somebody will soon arrive
Help is on the way

But it never came
It never came

Help is on the way (They said, they said)
Help is on the way (They said, they said)
One by air, two by sea, right there in front of me
Help is on the way
On the way

Rise Against

"Weapons Down"

Some people like him, some dont. Some say it was a show. I really doubt it nor do I care.The actual footage is copyrighted I guess by CNN because I cant access it. This interview shows a bit. Law enforcement and some guard members were contributing to a hostile environment and causing more stress and fear. (dont even get me started on the dirty cops in NOLA and some of the crimes against humanity they committed after Katrina, a lot of them have been charged) The city was tense and on the edge constantly.

By the way. Lt. Gen Honore is a Creole, not a "ragin cajun". I will never forget some of his words. "put your weapons down dammit, you are delivering food" , some of the hillbillies riding around with shotguns in truck beds didnt like him a bit. He was HOT when he got to a water and food distribution center and they werent handing things out because it might cause "chaos". I dont know what happened to that original video but listening to him eat their asses alive was music to my ears.

I liked him and still do. Somebody had to take charge of the mess and he was willing.

History of the Crescent City

This photo of New Orleans is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The People And Culture of New Orleans
By Arnold R. Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon
Department of History, University of New Orleans


Normally when tourists or first-time residents come to New Orleans, they have a difficult time understanding the city. It looks like no other place in the United States. The first puzzling impression usually comes from the appearance of the French Quarter near many of the city's hotels. It is more than just a few blocks of townhouses and cottages standing side-by-side, up against the sidewalk. The size of the district startles even those well traveled in the rest of the nation. Few visitors, moreover, are accustomed to such a melange of people moving at all hours of the day and night in the very center of the city. They quickly learn that bars have no closing hour, that the food is spicy, and that the music is pulsating almost everywhere. And they may also take note that the locals talk funny but seldom have southern accents.

Even a prolonged stay brings no easy recognition or familiarity. Someone from a northern city might see something familiar like a Saint Patrick's Day parade, Italian fresh produce dealers, or some century-old Lutheran, Greek Orthodox and Jewish congregations. They would also recognize soul food restaurants, African American store-front churches, and the lilt of Spanish spoken in the streets. A southern visitor would see familiar colonnaded houses, catch a whiff of jasmine blossoms, and even find cornbread on some menus. But still most residents of the United States will still be puzzled by what they observe in New Orleans — their usual explanation is that New Orleans is a foreign place, more a European than an American city.

But it is an American city — just a very different place with a very peculiar history. New Orleans is a place where Africans, both slave and free, and American Indians shared their cultures and intermingled with European settlers. Encouraged by the French government, this strategy for producing a durable culture in a difficult place marked New Orleans as different and special from its inception and continues to distinguish New Orleans today.



Like the early American settlements along Massachusetts Bay and Chesapeake Bay on the Atlantic coast, New Orleans served as a distinctive cultural gateway to North America, where peoples from Europe and Africa initially intertwined their lives and customs with those of the native inhabitants of the New World. The resulting way of life differed dramatically from the culture that was spawned in the English colonies of North America. The New Orleans Creole population (those with ancestry rooted in the city's colonial era) ensured not only that English was not the prevailing language, but also that Protestantism was scorned, public education unheralded, and democratic government untried.

Isolation helped to nourish the differences. From its founding in 1718 until the early 19th century, New Orleans remained far removed from the patterns of living in early Massachusetts or Virginia. Established a century after those seminal Anglo-Saxon places, it remained for the next hundred years an outpost of the French and Spanish empires until Napoleon sold it to the United States with the rest of the Louisiana purchase in 1803.

Even though steamboats and sailing ships quickly connected French Louisiana to the rest of the country, New Orleans jealously guarded its own way of life. True, it became Dixie's chief cotton and slave market, but it always remained a strange province in the American South. American newcomers from the South as well as the North recoiled when they encountered the prevailing French language of the city, its dominant Catholicism, its bawdy sensual delights, or its proud free black and slave inhabitants — in short, its deeply rooted Creole or native population and their peculiar traditions. Rapid influxes of non-southern population compounded the peculiarity of its Creole past. Until the mid-19th century, a greater number of migrants arrived in the boomtown from northern states such as New York and Pennsylvania than from the Old South. And to complicate its social makeup further, more foreign immigrants than Americans came to take up residence in the city almost until the beginning of the 20th century.

Foreign French continued to arrive as well as Spaniards and Cubans. Café du Monde at Jackson Square was Spanish in its origins, not French. The largest waves of immigrants came from Ireland and Germany. In certain neighborhoods, their descendants' dialects would make visitors feel that they were back in the depression neighborhoods of Brooklyn or the southside of Chicago. From 1820 to 1870, the Irish and Germans made New Orleans one of the main immigrant ports in the nation, second only to New York and far ahead of Boston, Philadelphia or Baltimore. New Orleans also was the first city in America to host a significant settlement of Italians, Greeks, Croatians and Filipinos. Just before the opening of the 20th century, thousands of Sicilians came into New Orleans to add to the complexity of its population and enrich its culture. Since many of these immigrants came from Catholic Mediterranean countries, they helped to increase the cultural divide with the settled ways of southern Protestants. North Louisianians find this city as strange as anyone from Iowa, Tennessee, Vermont or Georgia.

These variant patterns describe the black as well as the white population of the city. During the 18th century, Africans came to the city directly from West Africa. The majority passed neither through the West Indies nor the American South. They developed complicated relations with both the Indian and European populations. Their descendants born in the colony were also called Creoles. The Spanish rulers (1765-1802) reached out to the black population for support against the French settlers; in doing so, they allowed many to buy their own freedom. These free black settlers along with Creole slaves formed the earliest black urban settlement in North America. Black American immigrants found them to be quite exotic, for the black Creoles were Catholic, French or Creole speakers, and accustomed to an entirely different lifestyle. Immigrants also augmented the ranks of the city's black population when thousands of Haitians fled to New Orleans from that troubled island's revolutions long before Americans confronted its refugees in the late 20th century.

The native Creole population and the American newcomers resolved some of their conflicts by living in different areas of the city. Eventually, the Americans concentrated their numbers in new uptown (upriver of Canal Street) neighborhoods. For a certain period (1836-1852), they even ran separate municipal governments to avoid severe political, economic and cultural clashes. Evidence of this early cleavage still survives in the city's oldest quarters. A ride on a St. Charles streetcar will take a visitor away from the exotic French Quarter (the original downtown old city or Vieux Carré of the Creoles), initially through a business district more like that of the rest of America, and then through neighborhoods such as the lower and upper Garden Districts that look a little like Charleston or Savannah. Further still, through the University district, neighborhoods emerge filled with Victorian homes once common in American cities. Because the highest ground in this largely below sea level city runs along the natural levees of the city, the streetcar takes its riders on a passage through historical eras and their evolving architectural taste. Indeed, one of the city's nicknames, the Crescent City, came from the pattern of its growth along the river, which made a large bend through the delta starting at the original French settlement and moving out to the once separate town of Carrollton. The streetcar, the oldest surviving trolley in the United States, was constructed to connect those two 19th century settlements.

Similarly, a bus ride along Magazine Street would show the diversity of ethnic shops, just as a ride up Esplanade Avenue would reveal the evolving tastes and habits of the city's Creole population. And, of course, a stroll through any of the unique cemeteries, called "the Cities of the Dead," vividly show the multiplicity of names, birthplaces and languages of the various peoples who made up the population of the Crescent City.



Finally, New Orleans' peculiar ways need more explanation than a variant colonial past and a wildly diverse population. After all, California once belonged to Mexico, and today it draws more domestic and foreign transplants than any other place in the nation. Yet visitors seldom consider it "foreign." Quite to the contrary, California has come to define what is quintessentially American. On the other hand, New Orleans has remained an American province with a variant way of life. What is most intriguing about the city is its ability to fashion a public culture that transcends all of its varied peoples. They are more than a mosaic of identities, instead, they have to share a new cultural identity. Neither race nor nationality excludes any group from this common ground. What the city's denizens celebrate is less the Old World cultures of their ancestors and more the new way of life that evolved in New Orleans. The food, the festival, the music are shared pleasures, because somehow a novel ethnicity, born of the New World, has emerged in New Orleans. Creole cuisine, jazz and other forms of local music, Mardi Gras — all these famous attributes of the city give New Orleans a powerful sense of identity.

It is a live culture. If visitors make an effort, they can find a vibrant urban folk culture still producing new forms and practitioners. There are the neighborhood restaurants opened by bold creative chefs, the autumnal brass band parades in central city neighborhoods, the young lions of jazz now dominating the local scene as well as the world beyond, and the recently created Jazz & Heritage Festival. All these recent developments testify to the remarkable power of the city's culture to absorb new influences and fashion delights that continue to amaze not only much of the world, but also the inhabitants of New Orleans themselves.

Charity and Memorial Hospitals

Ambulatory patients from Charity finally being evacuated into a semi
Air boats taking patients out of Memorial Hospital

Charity was full of critically patients, aids patients, TB patients and a psych wing full of the most violent psychiatric patients

Nurses bagged patients by hand for days.

I cant begin to do justice to the situation at these two hospitals. There was no money for evacuations in the days before Katrina. Dedicated hospital staff stayed with their patients, made life and death decisions (and then later officials attempted to charge some of them with homicide, whether or not death cocktails were given has not been determined, but I suspect there were)

The morgue's flooded. Snakes and other wildlife took refuge in the hospital, dogs and cats too.

Generators quit, there were no meds left not even sub-q fluids. People were turned away (there was no way to treat them) Shots were reported fired at Guard soldiers helping with evacuation but never really confirmed. (the docs and nurses said there were and frankly I am inclined to believe them)

Imagine being a critical patient being stuck in one of these hell holes and the world has forgotten about you. You have just had an open heart surgery and you are faced with this.