An Unexpected Moment

Mother Nature offered up another "be still and soak up the moment" opportunity yesterday. This moment was watching one of my favorite animals that is allowed to roam the city streets. A rabbit sighting.

Yesterday's rabbit didn't hop off in a straight line as most of my sightings go. Usually, once I spot a rabbit the most I can hope for is that it either stays where it is resting or doesn't run off. I can't remember a time when a rabbit didn't simply run off in a relatively straight line. Yesterday was different.

Yesterday's rabbit was first spotted enjoying the newly planted flower garden outside my aunt's deck area. So I shall henceforth dub this rabbit "Flower". My aunt knows how much I enjoy rabbit watching so she pointed out Flower's existence. From that point on, we simply sat back and watched.

"Flower" heard something and hopped off. As a rule, the rabbits head off in one direction and simply take the next forward hop. Not yesterday. Flower stopped, sat back on its haunches, turned around and was on full alert. The next thing we knew, Flower headed back in the direction she came from. Stopped. Stood up on her back two feet, ears were perked up and Flower was listening. She was almost out of sight but her fully alert ears were still visible. Then she headed back where we could see her better, tucked back her ears and if we had not been watching her we would have been certain she was a rock.

I begged her to come a little closer so we could watch her. I think she understood me because after a brief rest, she inched a little closer to where we were and stopped again.

There were momentary stops but Flower zigged and zagged a few more times before she headed off in a northern direction and hopped out of sight. The robin that was in the area was completely unfazed by the rabbit's existence, instinctively knowing it was not in danger (how do birds know rabbits are vegetarians?).

My brain was void of all previous thoughts as we sat back and took in the moment. I was lost in the act of rabbit-watching and nothing else mattered. The birds, the rabbits, the spiders and all the little miracles of nature remind me of gazing into the vastness of the ocean hoping to spot a whale while on a cruise many years ago.

Watching a spider build a web. A rabbit sighting that was more than a passing hop. Sitting back and watching the birds ...

We crave vacations, time away, moments in the sun to take us away from the daily grind of living our regularly scheduled life. Yet if you have the chance to be still and soak up the moment you are in, prepare to be amazed. What you are looking for may be in your own back yard (or in my case, my aunt's).