BLOGG#128 THE EASTER BUNNY

It is now a week past Easter and we are all in the process of getting rid of extra poundage due to indulging in Easter chocolate goodies and above all the Easter chocolate bunny.
This past week I have been contemplating the Easter Bunny phenomena and our relationship to rabbits in general especially bunnies. This started because a week ago today I was in the local grocery store and -as usual -walked by the Bakery department. I don't buy I just look. This time I noticed a white mound on the shelf and when I looked closer discovered it was a white Easter bunny as a cake covered in coconut icing. It was disconcerting to see. I pictured all these eager little ones Easter morning watching their mummies carefully cutting up the cake-first through the nose, then through the eyes and so on until the whole cake was eaten up. It sounds macabre to say the least. Especially with our present day attitude to the sweet bunny and especially the way we humanize them-think Peter Rabbit in his little blue coat raiding the cabbage patch. I suppose we could blame Beatrix Potter for that. The next thing we saw in a mall on Saturday before Easter was a person dressed in a big white bunny suit seated on a chair surrounded with Easter goodies and a line up of kiddies and sure enough there was a little one sitting on his lap having his picture taken. Now not only do kiddies have to deal with sitting on the lap of a big old man in a red suit and long beard but also deal with sitting on an oversize rabbit that talks. What damage are we inflicting on them now? Poor frightened children.
 My puzzlement with our relationship with bunnies continues. Why the Easter Bunny anyway? what does he symbolize? and as my smart grandson pointed out-"what's with the eggs and the rabbit laying them?  How weird is that"??
This has kept me preoccupied all week . The paradox of our attitude to rabbits. We cheerfully eat the Easter chocolate rabbit -starting with the ears and working down to his feet-with no thought of it's cuteness. But in real life we raise a  hue  and cry over the threat of authorities culling them due to over breeding even though it means we may squish them as we negotiate the paths of Victoria General hospital or the University.
The rabbit breeds profusely and wise Mother Nature has designed this to help with the balance in nature giving the predators a chance of survival. The cute bunny  or rabbit on the other hand if it survives,is not forgotten by her either as she gives it great survival resources. They are swift, have acute hearing and eyesight and are very clever. Remember Aesop's fable of Brer Rabbit outfoxing Mr. Fox by begging him not to be thrown into the Briar patch.
We could learn from this and instead of talking about culling , we could use this abundance. However , though we merrily eat the chocolate rabbit , most of us balk at eating the cute real rabbit.Too cruel. Yet this could be a cheap source of  organic meat supply. It is used in other countries. The French have wonderful rabbit dishes and the Greeks make a mean rabbit stew with onions. I am afraid though, our conflicting relationships with the rabbit will not allow this. It all gives me much food for thought --hmmmmm??

BLOGG# MY BACK YARD IN SPRING

Years-eons ago actually in high school- I was forced to write a descriptive essay about  a favourite landscape. I chose to write an ironic description of our backyard describing the picturesque snow coverings on our garbage pails and chicken coop. I got an A. Today I will write about my spring backyard. My backyard fronts a back lane. Yes, Victoria has back lanes and is famous for them and I am lucky to have one. Beyond this lane I can see a parking lot; the busy Royal Jubilee Hospital; a private Elementary School with it's playground;a holding construction for the sanitation Board and a park with a creek running through-the famous Bowker Creek. From my balcony which faces west I can view all this and spend many happy times doing so.
                                            
Although this doesn't sound a very pretty view- it is-  because backing our own parking area  before the lane is a line of trees and bushes. I can boast a wild old  cherry tree, an apple ,two plum trees a tulip tree, several looming deciduous trees and a clutch of bushes winding around the creek. At this moment they are all in various stages of bloom and bursting leaf openings. This entertaining show starts in very early spring and lasts until early summer. It starts with the cherry tree which is now finished, goes on to the plums which are now in full bloom and then to the apple which is shyly showing a few buds. The tulip tree is shamelessly bursting in deep pink as she hides behind a big pine.
 This morning ,as I usually do, I pulled open the drapes of  my bedroom window which looks out on the  back yard and was greeted with all this glory. I was also greeted with the sight of a helicopter  belonging to the hospital rising slowly from it's pad after delivering an emergency victim and I realized how lucky I am to have this exciting busy urban  and at the same time rural view for my own entertainment.
I start my morning greeting my backyard listening to the chirping of  birds. My day progresses to sitting out on the balcony as the day warms-or not- looking at the beautiful blossoms and enjoying the bustle of the city and end the day watching the city quieting and listening to the same birds settling for the night and of course watching the sunset-which last night was a deep blushing pink. One of my favourite pastimes is watching clouds as they scuttle across the sky-a constant changing scene . so this is the  description of my backyard now--I wonder if Miss Gale would give me an A??