Serious Bunny Business in Gremlin's Meadow

It was a day of bizarre weather. A big cold front moved through central Pennsylvania, and it brought rain, absolute deluges at times, plus heavy winds and a mix of sleet, snow buds, and graupel (super-cooled snowflakes that collect water droplets on their surfaces), which looks an awful lot like hail. And in between all of that, we had great big patches of sunshine and blue skies. Go home, May; you're drunk!

The news, besides the atrocious weather, is this: There is serious bunny business afoot in the meadow. One of the bunnies has been hanging out there, digging and scratching, setting leaves and vegetation flying. We suspect she may be building a nest.

If I stand on the cedar chest beneath the side window of the master bedroom, I can see (and take pictures) straight down into the middle of the meadow. I took this shot during a blue-sky moment, when Binky Bunzini lifted her face toward the sun. Just behind her to the left is the pile of detritus she's been visiting and messing around with.

There is also news from the hummingbirds. I saw my first female on this day. She drank heavily from the feeder and then sat in the nearby lilac bush and defended it from the little male I introduced you to in yesterday's blip. At one point, I looked out, and it was sleeting heavily and the lady hummingbird was sitting on the feeder, hunkered down, simply . . . enduring. As one does.

I also came across a medium-sized toad in the yard, and s/he didn't look too well. I couldn't see any visible injuries or problems, but it was lying there flat, and when I picked it up, its mouth opened and closed. I don't know if it was ill or merely flabbergasted - as we all were - by the weather, so I simply placed it in the butterfly garden for safe keeping.

I have shared on these pages before the bittersweet tale of Gremlin's Meadow, and how it came to be. I do not imagine this is the FIRST time that baby bunnies may be born there, but it might be the first batch I've been aware of. All creatures are welcome in the meadow, whether it be life or death that brings us there. This time . . . let it be LIFE!

The song is Jackson Browne's wonderful tune, Ready Or Not. (Better watch out; next thing we'll be buying that bunny a washing machine!)

P.S. Here's a link to the final picture I posted here of Mini Bunzini, Binky's sainted mother. Dare I think they bear a family resemblance?