Well a couple of days after Kelly finally saw the pig, I found more livestock in the neighborhood!
You see, I get up early on Saturday and Sunday and I take the dogs to the Aptos Dog Park. I loaded the dogs into Kelly's car and the dogs took their positions. Bindi jumps in the back and lays down and goes back to sleep. Rex always jumps in the front passenger seat and sits up straight, because he doesn't want to miss anything. The dogs are all loaded, and I head off to the Dog Park. I go around the corner, and head on up the street, when suddenly, Rex's ears perk straight up. Right smack in the middle of the road are two of the biggest rabbits that I have ever seen.
As I slow the car to a stop, Bindi jumps up and hops into the front seat. She immediately begins barking at the bunnies. What's funny, is at the dog park, they always see bunnies. Of course they are the smaller, cottontail type, but still, they won't pay them any attention. Now that there are bunnies hopping across the street, they have to bark at them.
After our adventure at the Dog Park, we head for home. We saw at least a dozen bunnies at the Dog Park, and neither dog even barked at them. Once I get home, I tell Kelly about the new livestock in the neighborhood. Of course, she doesn't believe me. "You know I have a soft spot for bunnies, ever since Prunedale." "You are just trying to get me to walk farther."
Back when we lived in Prunedale, we had a pet bunny rabbit. The story of how we got that critter is a classic Prunedal tale. Prunedale used to be really a small rural community. The most exciting store in town was Deaton Feed.
Deaton Feed was an old school feed store. They sold hay bales, dog food, chicken feed, and of course, pig chow. I am serious. We used to buy big sacks of King Brand Pig Chow at Deaton Feed. The store was kind of a community meeting place. Everyone in town would go there for their animal food, the 4H kids would be selling animals, the Girl Scouts were selling cookies, and the old guys would be swapping stories about the good old days.
One Saturday afternoon, Kelly and I loaded up the kids and headed for Deaton Feed. When we got there, there was a guy out front with a bunch of cute bunnies. My daughter Tammy got really excited. "Daddy, Daddy, look at the bunnies!"
Tammy ran up to see the bunnies. Guess what? Yep, she wanted to get a bunny. Not just a bunny, Tammy wanted two bunnies. I explained that you don't get two bunnies, because two don't stay two. "Please, oh Please" she begged. I told her we would look and see if they have any cages inside the store. Well we picked up some pig chow and looked for cages. They were all sold out of the cages. Probably because of the guy out front with the cute bunnies.
As I loaded the pig chow, I explained to Tammy that they didn't have any cages. Tammy asked, "Can't you build one?" I explained that I didn't have any lumber or the time to build one. I didn't tell her that I can't cut a straight line with a saw for anything. I can build a stock car motor that will run with the best. I can pound dents and hang fenders. I can fix just about anything to do with a car, but I'm just not a carpenter. Of course I could never tell my daughter that.
We all got into the car, and I started to back up. I'm looking over my right shoulder when suddenly, I hear a knocking on the drivers side window. I stop the car and look over. It was the guy with the bunnies. He makes a motion for me to roll down my window. I hit the switch. Just as the window gets to the bottom. He reaches behind his back, and tosses a bunny rabbit into the back seat, onto Tammy's lap. The guy tells Tammy, "Tell your Dad not to be so lazy, and build a cage." Then he has the nerve to smile at me. Well our new friend starts hopping around the back seat and Tammy is soooo excited. Ever since then, our family likes bunnies.
When I first had my weight loss surgery, I used to go to the dog park all the time. On weekends, I would go three or four times in a day. Rex and I would walk around the half mile loop, looking for bunnies. We would do up to 12 laps a time. I always counted how many rabbits were seen. It was my way of fighting the boredom of walking in circles. I would return home and proclaim to seeing 20 or 30 rabbits. Of course they were probably the same 5 or 6 rabbits that got counted each time we went around, but that's ok.
Kelly has started walking further. We now walk "to see the pigs and bunnies." I have seen the bunnies a couple of times, and Kelly saw one for the first time yesterday. When I was taking the dogs on a really long walk, I heard the sound of hens clucking and a rooster crowing. Once Kelly builds up some more strength, I'm going to have to get her to go for a walk to look for chickens!
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