Now Playing: We Are a Warren!
Topic: Libbin Assa Urban Rabbit
Well, there issa'nudder entry dat goes in dis "Hay Diaries" Blog bifore dis wun, but since Tripod is gibbin' dis "Small NZ" rabbit a hard time about postin' it, I'm putting it aside for anudder time when Maman and I hab more Patience. Onna'count obba Fakt dat ebben Togedder, she and I don't habba'lotta Patience atta best ob times, and dis isn't whut you'd call "Da Best Ob Times". (Maman is still sik...) It's not "Da Werst Ob Times," eidder. It's just wunna *those* times when Patience is sumfing Maman *is* rather than sumfing she hassa'lot ob...
Ennyways, since she and I are Uppystairs heer Togedder inna Study, and we BOF hab Thoughts, we hadda Fink aboud Who was gonna ged to Type. And...Since dis is MY Blog, I winned.
Yeah!
Well, I don't bemember dis direktly, but MissyBun told me onna'count obba Fakt dat she bemembers because she was heer, at Our Warren then, although she was just a YoungBun atta time, habbin' preddy much just arrived heer at Our Warren frum Unkul Michael's in Noo Yawk.
Missy sed dat Maman and Phil-the-Lad had just taken part inna Famous Tommy BunTucker Bunderground, moving Tommy BunTucker frum his old home SumWheres in Bis-Con-Sin to his Noo Forebber Home in Noo Yawk State. Maman and Phil had volunteered to drive Tommy in his liddle carrier frumma Pencilvainya/Maryland state line to the Pencilvainya town ob Scranton where he was picked up by Auntie Laura Garner to be taken to Auntie Laura Tucker and his Forebber Home.
And onnaway back frum driving Tommy BunTucker, Maman and Phil stopped atta Burger King onna Turnpike anna Pressydent obba United States said, "We are at war."
And dis made Maman afraid. MissyBun sed datta day bifore da Bunderground there had been September 11th, and the skies ober Our Warren had suddenly got silent, except forda huge fighter-jet-planes screaming over-head along da River.
Missy sed dat Maman spent a lotta time inna BunRoom dat day holding on tight to me,Hunny wif her face in his fur and he was confoozled and skert onna'cout obba Fakt dat none obba bunnies knew Whut Was Happining. Ebben Belinda couldn't ged Maman to look up. not until Dadda came home a long time later. This is onna'count obba Fakt dat Maman prides herself on not crying - so only da bunnies saw, and we nebber tell.
Ennyways, right afta da Bunderground, Phil-the-Lad went sumwheres toda Navy Recruiter. And dere wassa whole lotta fuss and bother, Missy sed, wif Maman gibbin da recruiter piano lessons so he culd play a song to impress his noo wife (and it was Sistah Beffy's brudder-in-law, Jeff, as it turns out!) and alla dat. And Maman made Christmas come a week early so dat Phil culd hab Christmas at Home bifore he left for Illynoy anna Great Lakes Naval Training Centre.
And Phil was all hextcited. He was going innu da Navy to fight for Freedom and for 'Murrica, and for Bunnies to be HouzRabbits ebberywheres.
And then the Day Bifore Christmas came and Jeff anna udder recruiters came and Phil left wif dem inna car. And Maman watched dat car pull away, and watched as it drove alla way downna street.
And then Maman closed da Big Frunt Door, and went innu da BunRoom, Missy sed, and then she opined alla habbytat doors and sat down onna floor wif alla bunnies in Our Warren and curled up inna widdle ball and cried her eyes out. And me,Hunny stood ober her wif Belinda, and although nobun knew Whut Wassa Matta. they all stood ober Maman and nosebonked her. Because Maman nebber cries.
Now dat was den, and dat was Private. And MissyBun says dat Mawmies crying for dere children is normal. All Mawmies cry, ebben if, wike Maman, they don't admit it.
But whut I don't unnerstand is alla Fuss dat is made now when a Person leebs for da Military or comes home on whut they call "Leave" or who just comes home. There are tellyvision cameras there and people wif big signs and ribbons and flowers and tables wif punch and cookies. And big parties wiffa'lotta "Welcome Homes" and people crying out loud.
And dis is all nice, and as it should be - forda Family and forda Mawmies, but why are there tellyvision cameras? Why is dis suddenly Noos forda Werld?
Can anyone of these hoomins bemember sumbun who came home frum VietNam, and who was booed and spit on? Can ennybun bemember sumbun who came home frum Korea and was ignored? Whut is dis sudden rush to shub a tellyvision camera inna face obba military person, not to say "Fank You for serving", but just to say, "Wookit, you're alive!"
Alla these people volunteered to serve. They read da fine print and they still signed their names onna line. They knew that they might get sent to sumplace dat was all desert, or dat dey might hab to float around inna Arabian Sea, but they raised their hands and swore they'd do it. Dey knew dat they wuld prob'ly ged a good eddykayshun, wike Phil got frum Drexel, but dat dey also culd get killed.
Dey are ALL good young people who are out dere serving voluntarily! Not one ob dem was forced to go; nobun shubbed a gun innu dere hands and den tossed dem outta a hareplane over a jungle. If dis was wike dat, den maybe dat Sheehan woman wuld hab a case for her terrible behaviour, but as it is, whut she is doing is just sad. Her son knew whut he was doing, just wike Our Phil. She needs help - she needs her warren to help her get the kind of help she needs. Whut She Doesn't Need is alla tellyvision cameras, anna reporters, anna media people who are exploiting her shattered emotions to make their copy.
And alla dees boys and gurls are wike Our Phil, only now Our Phil issa Veteran and nobun cares about him, or about his knee wif 40 degrees ob lateral motion. But dat's hokay, becos Phil has Our Warren.
Nobun came to take pikchurs ob Maman when she closed da Big Frunt Door and went and curled up onna BunRoom floor to cry alone - and she wuldn't hab wanted dat. Why does ebberybunny assume dat it is Right and Proper to intrude on ebberybun? Nobun "shares" tears. Your tears are your own and your Warren's fur soaks them up. And your Warren pokes their noses close to yours to let you know that they're right there with you. Nobun else is with you - ebben if they try and pretend to be - only your Warren cares for you, just as you care for your Warren.
Because ebben wif tellyvision cameras alla'round, and photojournalists shubbing microphones in your face, and alla tape recorders runnng to catch a sound byte - ebben wif alla dat, you are OnAlone. Because Those Are Not Your Warren. Those things will all go away. The lights will turn off, the flowers will fade, the memorials will wash away in the rain. All of that public out-pouring of grief is nothing, and will come to nothing because it is not felt. It is not a warm nose that cares about you and about whom you care when alla lights have gone out and the Big Frunt Door finally closes.
Our Dadda came frumma Military family, too. Sumtimes he didn't see his Dadda for years atta time; sumtimes he went wif his Dadda to strange places and sumtimes he got shot at assa widdle boy in strange places wif his Dadda. He was taught not to make a fuss, dat dis was part ob being "military" - dat dis was whut made him dif'frunt frum udder kidlets. His Dadda was keeping Inkland safe and Our Dadda was proud ob dat. And just wike his Dadda, Our Dadda hadda job, too, and his job was to be strong, and not to lose his head and start screaming when he saw his Dadda. His job, ebben assa berry widdle boy, was to stand fast and straight and as tall as he was able and not scream or cry or act wike a baby. He was military and Our Dadda grew up to be independant and self-reliant - which is why dere is nuffin' dat he can't handle!
So when fings happin in Our Warren, Maman and Dadda face dem Togedder. Maman stands in frunt ob Dadda, and Dadda stands wif his hands on her shoulders. Dere issa pikchur ob dem togedder wike dis, and inna background, if you look rilly hard, you can see Phil-the-Lad, and Sistah Beffy wif Annastasia over her shoulder, and you can see Marc-the-Border-Collie, wif Cokie-da-Fat-Cat and Beep-da-Udder-Cat and den Alla Us Togedder inna background. We are, Togedder, whut makes Our Warren.
And if you look ebben harder innu da background, you can see Maman's Bim, and Dadda's Dadda, and me,Hunny and Belinda anna Ancient Dawg, and Maman's Granny and alla udder Ones Whos Went Bifore, stretching back innu Time - because alla dees are also Part Obba Warren. We are not only Ourselves as we are now, but we are also The Lore.
But Whut We Are Not is tellyvision cameras and "national mourning" and habbin' grief councillors to tell us how we are supposed to feel about stuff. We don't hab da "media" to gib us direkshuns about how to act or how to unnerstand whut touches us. We do Whut Seems Right and we do it Wif Each Udder.
And we care aboud each udder and each udder cares for us - And THIS is libbin' inna Warren. It's Whut We Do.
------------------------------- By George