Underground Rabbits

You haven't heard a lot from me in a while for a good reason: we've had our own little nature project in my 12-week-old son, Parker. Due to the newborn's presence, not a lot has happened in my garden spaces lately. But this weekend I finally started cleaning up the yard, and that's typically when magical encounters with nature begin.

I was pulling weeks from a perrenial bed I have out front when I spotted movement to my left. Take a look at these photos and notice, in particular, the eye...

Yep, that's a baby cotton-tailed rabbit. I noticed him when his sibling, on the left, turned around and buried his nose in the dirt to hide. I think there might actually be a third one in there, too, laying in front of big-eye's nose. I continued to weed as close as four inches from them, and they did not stir. They sat still for many photos.

I have seen the mother of these babies running through my yard in the morning. Finding these creatures was particularly fun this morning because I was able to show them to my neighbor, Tu. He had to look very close, but he did finally see the eye and was pretty excited.

The cool thing is that I stirred a rabbit out of this very same bed at the same time last year when I was weeding the perennials. This isn't the best kept bed in the world, but it is organic. And because I haven't used any chemicals or smelly weed killer, I am able to enjoy little nature treats like this.

This shot is from the front of the rabbit who has his eye open, so you can see their two bodies distinctly. If you see something like this first thing in the morning, I promise you, all your cares melt away. It is a magical, beautiful world we live in.