My Prompt_ The Cottontail

I’ve decided to start my blogging and attend to my 101 assignments early in the morning before I get bogged down with work. I’ve been getting to Blogging U later in the day when like my mobile devices, my charge is running out.

I didn’t get my prompt from the Daily Post but from a Cottontail Rabbit hopping in my neighborhood.

The other night I saw my first cottontail of the season hopping quickly away from us into the night and into the woods by our house. I’m sure he or she wanted to get the lead on Eliza before she would attempt to chase it.  It was gone before she knew it.  She had sniffed into the air and followed the faint smell as one would a sweet perfume or fresh bread by the bakery. It drives her crazy when we are out on our walks.  Of course she smells them long before I can see them and she starts pulling me in their directions with SuperDog strength. Even at 16 lbs, I swear one of these days she’s going to pull my arm out!

I’m not ashamed to admit that I always get excited when I see the first cottontail of the season hopping by. Of course it always reminds me of “Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppin’, Easter’s on the way.  Bringin’ every girl and boy baskets full of Easter joy, things to make your Easter bright and gay…”   In an instant, my mind had looped back a few decades to pull out this tune from the “corners of my mind”.

Now, you need to understand that I’m a city kid from the Northeast and you can be sure I didn’t see any cottontails’ hippity, hoppin’ down my street in Brooklyn, NY or even at the Prospect Park nearby.  As my daughters were growing up, I never saw one hippity hoppin’ in the old mill city north of Boston either.  However, stored in my memory, I can still recall that with each season, our elementary school music teacher would have new songs for us to welcome and celebrate it. These were usually sing-a-long folk songs from long, long time ago.  We would sing at the weekly Assembly when all the classes would come together to share the arts before things got COMPLICATED.

I’ve lived in Florida for several years now, also in the city and yet each year around this time I start seeing brown rabbits with tails that look like a wad of cotton stuck to the rear end. They start growing in numbers as the days go by too.  They make nests in the landscaping around the neighborhood, in the bushes, tall grass, behind trees in backyards.  When you least expect it there is one jumping out on the walkways or sidewalks, followed by another and another.  I tend to be a bit simpleminded at times and seeing the first cottontail affirms that this seasonal event must be why there’s a connection with bunnies and Easter.  Nothing sinister about that.

My reminiscing was interrupted my “left brain” and by that I mean, my tendency to lean to the liberal minded side of politics and religion.  I know that soon I will start seeing my Facebook feed cluttered with posts demonizing the Easter Bunny with its colorful eggs in a basket.

Don’t get me wrong, spiritually; Easter is actually my favorite season.  I like the idea of Lent-forty days of personal soul searching, reflecting and spiritual cleansing.  I hope to be writing more on that as the days go by.

But back to Peter and the eggs…

It drives me crazy when all the holier- than- thou take away the beauty of the season and start preaching fear from the pulpits to make everything bad and ugly.   Most of our treasured traditions practiced from time immemorial, religious or not, have origins in some “pagan” ritual. The Apostle Paul in Acts 17:23 did a nice job of reconciling the religious traditions of the Greek community with what he believed to be true.   Look it up if you haven’t read it or if you have, look at it this way.  Let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more of my reflections during the Easter season…