Easter Sunday.

This has been an interesting day.

I goofed off for a lot of it and just looked out the rear window and watched the wildlife.

Being rainy the bird activity was pretty low, but there was an awful lot of rabbit activity and it looks like there are going to be a lot of rabbits in the area this year. I saw no less than five at one time in my back yard.

I have never seen this much rabbit activity at one time in all the years I have lived here.

Last year it was chipmunks and Neighbor Bob and I had a hell of a time with them getting into the eaves and the attic. The cat was healthy then so I simply put the contents of his litterbox in another box and parked it in the attic.

I would have popped them with a pellet gun but the jerk down the street was laying for me and I wasn't going to give her an easy shot at me. A couple of years ago it would have not been an issue but the changes in the local police policies make things not concucive to popping chippies with a pellet gun.

Rabbits, of course, are no problem and they get a pass at the Piccolo place.

Last night I was out in the street and the guy across it and his little daughter were out and I mentioned that I am planning on planting a whole lot this spring, probably after my next tour. He asked me what kind of flowers and I looked at the little girl and in my best Margaret Hamiton/ Wicked Witch voice, said "Poppies...fields and fields of poppies!".

Her whole face lit up and she gave me the biggest smile in the world. It's funny that you can use a line from the Wizard of Oz on almost everyone over the age of five and and they seem to pick right up on it.

She laughed outright when I said to her, "I'll get you, my pretty....and your little dog, too!"

As I write this I just took a two minute break and stepped out just in time to see an old friend.

When I moved here he was a 19 year old kid dating the daughter of my neighbor. Now he's 37 and married to her and the two of them are raising 4 kids. Time flies. He's a good father, but in a way I worry about him and is future because he is still working with his hands. He's installing floors and doing general carpentry, which is fine, but an accident or health issues can put him out of work in a heartbeat.

I got a gift, marshmallow Peeps, the traditional Easter treat. I believe they are made by a Jewish outfit which tickles my perverse funnybone. Funny also is the Jewish barber that wished me a Happy Easter. He's quite a character and he wished me a Merry Christmas back when I got a clip in December. He's a pretty good guy. A few years back I got him a copy of the Constitution in Russian so he could study for his citizenship, as he's a Russian immigrant.

As for the Peeps, I will eat half of them now and put the rest in the cupboard for a few months because I like them when they get a little crusty when they dry out with age.

Hope you all have had a happy Easter.






my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/