Why are we still home? I miss my bunk! My humans are going stir crazy. Little Girl hasn’t seen her friends in far too long. I keep hearing weird phrases like “lockdown” and “quarantine.” Mama hardly ever watches T.V., but it’s been on more often lately.
I foot stomp, but no one pays attention. We were supposed to be all packed for a two week trip to a new campground with a pool and hot tub for my humans. It was supposed to be a trial run of a membership for when we headed to the Grand Canyon.
My humans have been frantically busy, but not packing for camping. Mama left for hours one morning, wearing a bandana on her face. She looked totally ridiculous. Maybe she’s having a midlife crisis. There’s a huge picture in the den of her and a horse when she was younger. Perhaps she’s decided to become a cowgirl…But then she’d want a horse. I definitely cannot take another animal in this family. Time to investigate further.
Big Rabbit and Mama are wandering around the house, doing random things while having another long, boring conversation. If I’m going to figure out what’s going on though, I need to corner her, get her still, and listen to their discussion. I jump on my couch and lay down, in prime “you may snuggle me” position. No one notices! I sit up, looking impatient. No one notices. This is getting annoying. I jump up on the arm of the couch as Big Rabbit walks into the kitchen. He flags Mama down.
She flocks over to me and dives into my mane. It’s kind of garbled, but she basically says we won’t be going camping, and she doesn’t know for how long, that there’s a big contagious virus that’s shutting the world down and they might not even be able to go to New York for Grandpa’s Celebration of Life!
Whoa. This is not good. Mama starts crying on me. I heave a sigh as the dampness spreads up my cheek.
That was the beginning of what I’ve started calling Corona Crazy. Our plans fell, one after the other: Camping trips, Little Girl’s co-op, gymnastics class, and Jiu Jitsu class; church, Mama’s sister and nephew’s visit, the Celebration of Life, more camping trips, visits to Mimi and Grampy’s, Little Girl’s dentist appointment, Big Rabbit’s doctor appointment, Mama’s medical test, and possibly the worst: Oreo’s neutering.
That last one I really don’t understand. Mama and Big Rabbit have been telling Little Girl about the brave humans who are still working, helping others. They’re called “essential.” Well, our awesome veterinary clinic is one of those essential businesses! How do my humans not see Oreo’s operation as essential? He’s a beast! And he still wants to eat me!
Speaking of eating, Big Rabbit started getting nervous about the food chain. This confused me. Humans are at the top of it, right? Turns out he was talking about the distribution of human food. I wasn’t worried, until Mama gave me a sidelong glance and asked Big Rabbit what he thought the possibility of not being able to find fresh lettuce and carrots for me was. My heart started pounding. Oh my gosh, this is really serious! I don’t want to starve! I zoned out of their conversation and didn’t even notice when Big Rabbit left in his car.
When he came back, he brought several things in and walked them out to the lanai. Mama called Little Girl out, and when she asked why, Mama said they were going to start their container garden. This sounded promising. They left the sliding glass door open, so I was able to hear when Little Girl asked what we’d be growing. Big Rabbit said lettuce, carrots, parsley and strawberries. Yes! I may be saved! Hopefully Big Rabbit and Little Girl are better gardeners than Mama…she only has one hibiscus plant out front. When people compliment her on it, she says it’s God’s hibiscus, because it nearly dies every year, but when she prays over it, it comes back to life. Everything else she’s ever tried to grow has died I guess (she gave up long before I came along).
It sounds like life will be very different for a while. If there are any pets out there reading this, I implore you to support your humans. I know they’re not perfect, but we’re all in this together. We can make the world a happier place by sharing our fur. Now, go snuggle someone you love!
