Where Bloggers Live: Life's Little Miracles, aka Bunnies

Apologies to my WBL friends that my post is late! Between Internet outages and dealing with (minor) illness, I've fallen behind on everything. But I couldn't let this month's theme go un-blogged, so I'm hoping late is better than never!

Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time.

Today's topic is...Life's Little Miracles, and this is an easy one for me because what says "life," "little," and "miracle" more than rabbits!

First, the "Life" part: Bunnies have a long association across many cultures with fertility, new life, renewal, and the spring season due to their own famous abilities to breed quickly and in high numbers. Our modern notions of the Christian Easter holiday and the seasonal figure of the Easter Bunny trace their origins to back to 13th century Germanic tribes who celebrated the return of spring with a rabbit symbolizing their fertility goddess Ostara (for whom the holiday is named).

Second, the "Little" part: Most rabbits are small. For example, adults of the wild rabbit species of North America range from under 2 pounds to about 6 pounds. Domesticated rabbit breeds have a wider range: small breeds like the Netherland dwarf, Holland lop, and Jersey woolies weigh under 4 pounds while the Flemish giant can exceed 20 pounds. The most common pet rabbits average around 5-6 pounds, which is pretty little!

Third, the "Miracle" part: Rabbits are also a widespread symbol of miracles and good fortune due to their ability to escape danger and thrive against the odds. This is related in part to their cunning and clever "trickster" nature, epitomized by Brer Rabbit and Bugs Bunny, for example.

If you read my recent post about the "Two Seasons of St Paul," you may have been a bit surprised by my self-control in not spending the whole post writing about and showing photos of rabbits from the Minnesota State Fair. But today, all such restraint has gone by the wayside! In particular, I would like to share with you my experience watching a rabbit agility competition for the 4-H rabbits at the fair.

(If you're not familiar with 4-H, it's a program for kids in the US that teaches "science, health, agriculture, and civic engagement through hands-on learning." Raising animals is a big part of the agriculture program, and I always enjoy seeing kids with their animals at the fair.)

Agility competitions involve a person directing their animal through an obstacle course with jumps, ramps, tunnels, etc., in which the winners are judged on the basis of speed and precision in completing the course. Probably the best known kind are dog agility competitions. Here's a 1:30 second video showing a startlingly fast and "nimble" dog competing at the Westminster Dog Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvKpZIELf4s

Note that "All-American dog" indicates that she is a mixed-breed/"mutt" rather than a purebred dog. I love it! Nimble, a Border Collie-Papillon mix, made history in 2024 as the first mixed-breed dog to be the winner of the Masters Agility Championship, defeating over 350 competitors with an under-30 second run. ("All-American" dogs are allowed to compete in agility events at Westminster since 2014.)

I have seen a few different dog agility demonstrations/competitions, though none of them anywhere near the Westminster Dog Show level, of course! Most memorable was the golden retriever at the Minnesota State Fair who came onto the course and was immediately so excited to meet all these people that he ignored the course and ran into the crowd.

But I have only seen the one rabbit agility demonstration...and it was definitely a work in progress for the kids and their rabbits. Let's tell the story though photos, shall we? I have engaged the Wix AI (GPT-4o) to explain what's happening in each of these photos, but I expect I will be clarifying issues along the way...

Let's see how our first competitor did:

Photo #1

GPT-4o says: "Brown rabbit wearing blue harness, sitting on dark floor near a wooden table leg. It looks alert and is facing to the left."

Photo #1

GPT-4o hasn't quite figured out what this context is - that it's a rabbit standing next to an A-frame ramp on the agility course - but I agree that the bunny is looking alert. In this case, he's actually resisting his human's urgings to run up and down the ramp. (He ended up trying to hide under the ramp.) I call this one "An unwilling rabbit agility competitor."

Photo #2

GPT-4o says: "Rabbit in blue harness crawls under white arch with red-striped bars on dark floor, showing focus and determination."

Photo #2

This is a jump with the height set at its very lowest level - one bar. The rabbit did hop over the first bar, but instead of hopping over the far bar and continuing the course, he hunkered down inside the jump. He is determined, all right...determined not to run this course. I call this one "A rabbit attempting to hide on the agility course."

Thanks for playing, First Competitor!

Now on to the second competitor, a Flemish giant named Zeus:

Photo #3

GPT-4o says: "Brown rabbit next to a small orange cone, a person’s leg visible. Background shows green tunnel. Playful indoor setting."

Photo #3

I am impressed that GPT recognized the green thing as a tunnel. Zeus was less sure of what it was, but became quickly convinced he wanted nothing to do with it! I call this one "Zeus examines the tunnel and rejects it."

Photo #4

GPT-4o says: "A rabbit sits on a dark mat in an indoor setting, facing a small agility obstacle with blue-and-white bars, appearing focused."

Photo #4

Yes, it is an agility obstacle - a jump set with two bars to hop over. I call this one "Zeus eyes the jump."

Photo #5

GPT-4o says: "Brown rabbit in agility course jumps over blue-striped pole. Black floor, red cone in background. Energetic vibe."

Photo #5

Let me be clear: Zeus did NOT jump over any poles. He is still facing the obstacle from the same spot as in the previous photo. He's just pushing at the bars, presumably to see if they will dislodge or fall over. (Gotta love an action shot, right?) I call this one "Zeus nudges the jump."

Photo #6

GPT-4o says: "A tan rabbit navigating an obstacle course with orange cones and a blue-striped bar on black flooring, appearing focused."

Photo #6

Zeus is indeed focused in this shot...focused on rubbing his chin against the low obstacle bar, a common rabbit behavior called "chinning" in which the bunny transfers his scent (undetectable to humans) from the scent glands under his chin to another object (or person). This behavior is used to mark a rabbit's territory and claim ownership of things. I call this "Zeus chin the jump and pwns it."

Photo #7

GPT-4o says: "Brown rabbit sits near orange cone marked '10' on dark floor; blue and white hurdles in background indicate a playful setting."

Photo #7

After dominating and controlling the jump, Zeus has no more use for it. He is certainly not going to bother jumping over it. I call this one "Zeus bypasses the jump."

Photo #8

GPT-4o says: "Brown rabbit on a textured ramp with legs in the background, possibly at an event. The setting has green drapes and a dark floor."

Photo #8

Unlike the First Competitor, Zeus was willing to go up the A-frame ramp, where he was rewarded with a terrific angle from which he could tug and chew up the carpet-like covering on it. I call this one "Zeus tears up the A-frame, literally."

Thanks for playing, Zeus!

After Zeus's domination of the agility course, the 4-H team decided to call it a wrap. People caged up their rabbits and went on their way. Robert and I followed a white Angora rabbit named Wyatt as his humans proceeded with him on a rolling palanquin through the fair. Naturally, I took advantage of this perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to follow the White Rabbit!

Photo #9

GPT-4o says: "A person in a blue shirt and hat pulls a wagon with a fluffy white rabbit on a patterned blanket at a crowded outdoor event."

The experience of following the White Rabbit through the most densely populated state fair in the country was, fittingly, an adventure. Luckily I was wise enough to take this photo just as we were heading out from the distant corner where the animal barns are located (the rabbits are shown in the sheep & poultry barn). As we headed into the main thoroughfare, things got a little crazy with the street fully packed with people. The vast majority of humans didn't even notice this strange procession in their midst, but some of the reactions were amazing. My two favorites:

(1) A young man who saw Wyatt and did an absolute 100% classic, old-school comedy double take as he passed us in the opposite direction: looking at Wyatt, looking away from Wyatt, then almost falling over as he turned around to stare with his mouth open at the unexpected sight of a fuzzy white rabbit serenely traveling on a padded wagon through the middle of the state fair.

(2) A young girl in her father's arms, standing still as we went by, pointed her gigantic corn dog (easily 1.5-2 feet long) on a stick and called out in a loud voice "BUNNY!" As she gracefully lowered her corndog in the direction of the rabbit, she looked like a princess extending her scepter in benediction.

I was sort of giddy with excitement throughout the procession as we followed Wyatt and company to a critical crossroads where they turned right and we continued straight to the parking lot where our shuttle bus station was located. I never thought I'd actually have the chance to fulfill that childhood dream of following the White Rabbit...nor did I expect it to be so regal and whimsical at once, traveling in a juxtaposition of the sublime and the ridiculous, full of pomp, circumstance, and comedy.

If we can consider a miracle to be an experience that is lucky, surprising, and inexplicably strange and awe-inspiring, I'd say that was a miracle for me!

Next month's topic is Favorite Rainy Day Things...an apt theme for the month of April...not that we typically see much rain in April here in the Twin Cities. But the 2025-2026 winter season has been so weird that we've had rain - yes, water falling in liquid form from the sky - 2 days in January, 2 days in February, and 4 days so far in March! So I think we're on course to have rain in April too.

In the meantime, visit these lovely bloggers as they share about their Life's Little Miracles:

Bettye at Fashion Schlub

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks

Em at Dust and Doghair

Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style

Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After Again

Iris, always in our hearts, from Iris' Original Ramblings

Now to you: what do you consider the little miracles in your life? Are there any animals (general or specific) that count as miracles for you? Have you had the "miraculous" opportunity to experience something you never thought you would?

Blogs I link up with are listed here.