Stars and rabbits

The morning - or, rather, night, for it was still very dark at 5 AM - was perfectly clear. I stepped outside the house and was greeted by half-moon and plethora of stars. It looked like the sky had put on a Christmas evening gown with hundreds of tiny diamonds woven in it. Sadly, such a clear sky has become a true rarity in our days of increasing pollution. For almost an hour I had it all to myself while I ran.

Down here on Earth the night was saturated with wild bunnies. Colder weather must have driven them out in droves for the last feeding frenzy before hibernation. It's too many of them to still consider them cute. They are turning into a serious pestilence. Hopefully, the weather will soon confine them to rabbit-hole.

When we came home from work night has fallen again. In our driveway, "parked" right in the middle was one of the long-eared furry visitors. It lazily moved aside to let the car pass. This blatant trespassing and lack of fear made us curious. I walked out of the garage and circled on one side of the bunny, while Meg went onto another. It didn't move! Finally, we ran toward it and that must have triggered some instinct for self preservation. The bunny ran the wrong way into the fence with me right on its tail. Cornered, it made a u-turn, ran into the barbecue, then found a gap between me and the fence. Unfortunately, Meg was there blocking the exit. Now in total panic, the rabbit made a mad dash toward the garage, then at the last moment turned back from the bright light and went for all-or-nothing, zooming with unbelievable speed by our legs and down the alley out of sight. Hope we scared it enough to stay away, at least for the winter.