BUNNY BONANZA

“Hey, there’s a bunny in our back yard!” My son Alex called to me from the kitchen as he was making his morning coffee.

“I’m watching one in the front yard!” I called back to him as I sat on the couch, sipping my tea, watching the front yard bunny nibble on some clover.

“I saw three of them yesterday.” Alex said as he came into the living room waiting for his water to heat up. “Why do you think there are so many this year?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t seen any hawks in the neighborhood lately. I guess without any predators around the bunny population has been able to explode.”

Alex walked over to the front window. “I wonder where all the hawks went?” He asked as the kettle began to whistle and he went back into the kitchen to shut it off.

“No food, no hawks.” I called out to him. I watched as the bunny looked around before moving to another patch of clover. “Good job, my friend. Keep a lookout for any danger.”

Alex came back with his mug of coffee. “You know, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any hawks around her for a few years.”

“Don’t worry.” I sighed. “They’ll be back.” We both watched as my bunny slowly hopped to the next patch of clover “Word will be out soon enough that our neighborhood is back to being a bunny bonanza and the hawks will be making their nests in our trees in no time.”

Alex frowned. “That’s a sad thought for the bunnies.”

I shook my head before taking another sip of my tea. “Sad but true.” I put my tea cup on the coffee table. “But I have pretty high hopes that Bernard will be able to hold his own against any hawks.”

Alex looked confused. “Who’s Bernard?”

“Bernard the Bunny.” I nodded my head toward the bunny in the front yard. “I’ve seen him every morning this week so I figured he deserved a name.” I looked over at Alex. “I have to say he’s impressed me with the way he’s always stopping and checking the sky for any problems. I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to outsmart any hawks that show up.”

Alex shook his head and laughed. “You named him?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Of course. He visits our front yard every morning while I have my tea.” I reached over and picked up my tea cup again. “As far as I’m concerned he’s become a part of our family.”

“But how can you tell it’s the same bunny you’re seeing every morning?”

I shrugged my shoulders again and took a sip of tea. “I don’t.”

Alex laughed again. “So you’ve named every bunny who runs through our yard Bernard?”

“Exactly!” I looked over at him and smiled. “Now I don’t have to worry about anything happening to my Bernard because we have dozens of him!”

Alex shook his head as he headed back to his room. “Whatever you have to tell yourself to make it through the day.”

I smiled as I looked out the widow. “Exactly.” I said to myself as I watched Bernard hop across the lawn and under the lilac bush. “See you tomorrow my friend!”