big sister

I remember like it was right now.  She would take me by the hands and swing me around in the air.  I must have been around 6. We would swing in the flat grassy yard across from their house.  I could swing forever and always asked for more.  She would laugh and fake a hillbilly accent, “Toni, I’m tared. Time to take a break.” She was Marry’s big sister.  And Barry’s and Kelly’s.  Not mine. But she was almost one of mine she was so present.  Eventually, I grew too big for her to swing me.

She complimented me by teasing me for being messy, lazy, lucky or skinny. She bitched up a storm when she needed to. She busted us all when we were too proud, loud or reckless. She liked keeping things clean. She had beautiful hair. She talked about how to be smart. Smart with money. Smart with life. And helped pick up the pieces when you weren’t.  She reminded me of the rules and the strategy while we played cards, instead of just after I lost.

We were never girlfriends. We never went to movies together. Or shared the same friends.  Or called each other up just to say Hi. We never sat together swapping love stories over a glass of wine. She simply walked a path ahead of me. Not for me, just ahead of me. Now as I’m walking I’ll miss looking up and seeing her there.

Slurpy Back Home

I went out to post 'Missing Rabbit' signs and found the neighborhood up in arms over the bunny-napping.

Mark (two doors down) was hounding Animal Control. Betsy (on the corner of the next block), happens to work the news room at one of the local papers and was calling me for the story to post on the paper's blog and also hung up signs. Gladys (tidy house on the corner) saw Joe (across the street from me) at Walmart and told him all about it. John (next door) was bummed.  The woman trimming Elsie's yard suggested that the people caught him to eat him. I decided that she was not my friend or Slurpy's. But she is in the minority. 

The guys at Gary's Gas Station (next door) said that recently they had sent the pound away.  A call had been put in about a crazed rabbit. Gary and the guy from the pound stood over Slurpy in the parking lot and discussed the situation. Gary asked The Pounder, "I don't know, does that rabbit look like a problem to you?" Slurpy sat all balled up, enjoying the warm pavement. Gary went on, "He is harmless. He lives next door. We all like him. Leave him alone." The Pounder apparently agreed and went away. Had the Pounder come back?

Eventually, I went to post my "Lost" notice on Craigslist and read a "Found Rabbit" post. A woman (ahem, with a California area code) had picked Slurpy up to 'help' him. I wish she had knocked on some doors and asked before scooping him up. I guess it isn't as easy to overlook as a loose cat, but she would have learned, like I did, that Slurpy lives a great life here and has many fans. And they would have sent her to me. Which I was pleased as punch about.

When Ms. Helpful dropped him off, finally, Joe ran over and knocked on my studio door to make sure I knew. He had a note and tape in hand in case I wasn't home. (I love my neighborhood.) 

Slurpy is losing his winter coat and he looks a bit mangy for it, especially in the rain. It also made him look grateful to be home again as he gobbled a handful of treats. I can't really tell. He hopped back to his routine pretty quick. 

From what I learned, John hand-feeds him raw almonds at 5:30 every morning.  He eats snacks under the blue spruce that the girls across the street leave for him. He naps under Gladys' weeping birch in the afternoons. Slurpy also gives the cats and squirrels that harass him a good spanking now and again so they mostly stear clear of him. And all that adventure is before he gets back to my house! 

He spends most of the day here.  And especially the nights, hunkered down in the middle of the grass in my back yard. When the college kids in the hood throw big parties, he stands in that spot, on his hind legs, his ears upright and separated at odd angles like TV antennae. He stands like that and listens, I guess. For hours. And I watch.

Anyway, the neighborhood is happy and relieved to have Slurpy back. There has been talk of having a party for him, but for now, I am satisfied with him roaming and following me around again.