Bunny and Kitty Tales

Some of you are aware that I was not able to bring either of my pets with me to Williamsburg.  My landlord deemed my bunny to be much too dangerous and destructive an animal to be tolerated in my rental unit (see him here eating our Christmas tree last year), and my family deemed our kitty to be too well ensconced in our Atlanta neighborhood to move without undue distress.  Truth be told, I am away from home so much, it's probably for the best right now, but I do miss my furry family members almost as much as I miss the people family members.

For awhile, I enjoyed the ducks on our property, but they up and flew south for the winter (yes, all of them - the lone male has departed, too).  And of course we have squirrels and birds aplenty, and I've seen a few deer when I'm out very early in the mornings.  Not the same, though.

Recently, though, a grey cat has taken up residence on the parish house grounds.  He is a beautiful animal, and very friendly; he may have been left behind by a neighbor who moved as he is a neutered adult cat.  With all the restaurants near by, he seems to be eating pretty well.  When not otherwise occupied stalking squirrels, he sits on one of our benches in the sun or snuggles in a leaf pile in the garden.   He clearly is used to being around people, and various folks stop to pet him -- he happily hops in one's lap, purring and kneading paws, if one takes a seat on a bench or the parish house steps.

Even more recently, I discovered bunny pellets in my yard and driveway. I'd seen a bunny or two on my walks around the duck pond but not around the residences.  Friday morning as I was pulling out of the driveway, I saw him in my yard, feasting on the grass.  He looks just like my bunny at home, if a little thinner.  So on Saturday, I left him a carrot under the shrubbery.

And on Sunday the carrot was gone.

Yesterday I heard again, at our Advent Service of Lessons & Carols, the story of how God created all of the animals to be companions of Adam in the Garden.  As it turned out, none of them was quite what Adam was looking for until the woman (whom he would later name Eve) was formed, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.  The Bible doesn't have much in it about pets or animal friends, but even a cursory look back through the history of humankind shows that as long as there have been people, they have had animal companions of various sorts.

And so, while my own Bunny and Kitty are enjoying life at home in Atlanta, I know some animals here now, too.