I really don't remember when the bunny addiction started. Skater's first few years in southern Illinois were uneventful for him and like a flower opening and coming to a full and beautiful blossom for me. While I absolutely despised where I was living, it afforded me the time and desire to really get to know this canine life which I had planned and awaited. Each and every day, Skater proved to be a miracle. He adapted to living in the house immediately and loved nothing more than to curl up in bed with us at night. His fascination with the hardwood floors was a constant source of amusement; he would play his own version of slip-and-slide with wonderful abandon, always searching for the perfect skid. Skater learned to eat off a fork, play volleyball, catch, hide and seek and a host of other games. He adored having children of "his own" and all the kids in the family learned my one hard and fast rule: whatever you do to Skater, however you TREAT Skater, that's what I will do to you and how I will treat you. While my own step kids were great with animals, their cousins were not and, in reality, I didn't trust them. So, the "rule" was born. When I once caught my 6 year old niece about to plant her bare foot up Skater's butt, I planted my foot up hers. She never pulled another stunt like that again. My dog was now first, last, and everything in between in my life. It was pure joy to watch him and he began to fill my heart in a way that it had never been before.
Two things that neither Skater nor I EVER got used to were snow and thunderstorms. He hated the thunder as much as I did and quickly established the relationship between the lightning flashes and the booming crashes of air that, at times, shook the house. He would glue himself to me at those times, determined to protect me from whatever those atrocious sounds were! Winters proved to be a real problem. I do not like the cold and Skater would NOT poop in the snow! When I would take him out, it would turn into a battle royal, inevitably with me screaming, him looking sad and both of us freezing. I wish I could take back those horrible moments of temper on my part. Why couldn't I simply accept the fact the this dog did not want his poor butt so close to the freezing stuff that fell out of the sky? Finally, and only out of sheer desperation, I took to shoveling sections of grass. It was not fun.
Spring was our best season and, along with the change in the weather, came the influx of baby bunnies seeking their way into and exploring their new world. Like most dogs, Skater had a strong urge to chase squirrels, deer, cats, screeching toddlers etc. But not the bunnies. He would lay on the lawn and quietly watch the little ones hop around the yard, a beautiful look of adoration on his handsome face. So, I bought him a stuffed bunny. Then another. Friends began buying him stuffed bunnies. The bunnies took over; when the time came for Skater to cross the Bridge, he had over 100 bunnies of all shapes and sizes. He never harmed one of them. When I came home to California, I had to put almost everything in storage. But I brought two of Skater's bunnies with me; a ratty brown one whose fur is matted in Skaterspit, and BedBunny, the one who lived on my bed. Skater knew that BedBunny was for sleeping and would move him around until he became a perfect pillow for his magnificent head. Those two bunnies are the last thing I see before I fall asleep each night.
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