A little non birding news: Non Birding Bill, Cinnamon and I will be at Bun Fest tomorrow (Saturday) at 11am. This is a rare public appearance of our dear rabbit in her old age. We'll sign Disapproving Rabbits books, answer bun questions and encourage you to support this great rabbit foster organization. If you have ever considered a rabbit as a pet, this is the perfect organization to learn about rabbit ownership and finding a rabbit that works for your family.
When The Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society asked me to bring Cinnamon I was hesitant, she's pushing 13 years old--that's geriatric in bunny lifespan. Years ago, a tiny dog with a big book and calendar series was on KARE 11 the same day I was on answering bird questions. I thought the animal was puppet, because it didn't move naturally. When I finally realized that it was a "live animal" in the handler's lap, I could see the dog looked a little off, didn't seem to be able to stand on it's own, eyes not registering all that was going on around it, almost as if it looked it was either drugged like crazy or barely alive. After I went home, I googled the dog and discovered at the time he was over 10 years old and I guessed that the owner had created this whole publishing series around him and couldn't get out of personal appearances no matter how old that dog was.
I never wanted to do that to Cinnamon--I never take her out unless she's "up for it". She likes people--when I worked at the bird store, she was practically an employee--she was our store greeter. Now, Cinnamon has her good and her sleepy days. Some days she's her frisky self, albeit slower or she has days when she just wants to sleep. She doesn't do speeding laps in the hallway anymore but shuffles around the apartment. This week she has been feeling her Wheaties. She actually tried to sneak into the kitchen--something she does when she wants you to play with her and as I type this, she's flipping around a spoon. She loves canned pumpkin or squash and we usually give her a spoonful in the morning. Sometimes when she's finished eating the pumpkin, she flips the spoon around--one day we found it wedged in on of the openings of her toddler gate--about a foot up...
So, she looks old, but she's feeling frisky and we made the decision yesterday to bring her out. If you'd like to meet the original Disapproving Rabbit, tomorrow is the day.
Speaking of Cinnamon, I love it when people tell me they have been inspired by Cinnamon and make art like this or the Disapproving Rabbit pumpkin or this portrait. This week, Heidi Brenegan who works at Animal Emergency Clinic in Oakdale, MN made painting for the clinic's lobby of all the varieties of pets they work with and she made one of Cinnamon:
If you happen to be at that clinic, check out Heidi's original. Thanks, Heidi, we're honored!