With a derogatory tone, those words can denote a waste of time. A second glance may open a door to something new and delicious, Rabbits can appear quietly in their hunched position with only twitching whiskers to identify their presence. One by the gate at the ranch in Boerne melted into the gatepost. I held Sarah’s three year old hand and kept a finger to my lips as we quietly tiptoed closer and hunkered down to look into the calm immoveable eyes. A cry of ,”Hi, bunny!” broke the spell and only a disappearing white tail was visible.
I thought of that moment as I chased the solid repetition of a Greek Key design in a sticker book I had been given for Christmas. I was releasing a line from the book to attach and mark the completion of a morning paragraph. The pattern is a simple repeat of horizontal and vertical lines that identify various Greek objects from vases to arches to the mythical labyrinth that held a Minotaur captive. The motif stands for eternal motion and infinity, yet it is simple enough that a fifth grade girl could decorate the top of her paper without ever lifting her pen.
One more rabbit appeared twitching at the corner of my eye. The key design also represents the twisting of the Meander River that appears in Homer’s Illiad. I have a geography minor and some plane trips show elevation and the substance of the soil by the back and forth turns of moving water over a landscape. I even had 8th graders build a tilted sandbox that created their own river with a watering can at the source before it slowed to a delta at the bottom of the box. So rabbits appear and leave from memories, to new knowledge, to visual examples of concrete truths. Chasing with a purpose leads to something new.
My life flows on in endless song,
above earth’s lamentation.
I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Let Me Tell Ya 