on bunnies

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Today’s theme is bunnies (the ones that live in grassy fields, not the ones that live at the mansion). Note the vegetable stand at Pike Place Market in Seattle. If I lose you at any point during this post, you’ll need to click on the links to get back on track.

One Easter we were given a black rabbit. I think her name was Cara. My mother let Cara run all over the house, although unfortunately, Cara was not litter box trained. This was not why Cara went to live in the country though. She would have stayed with us for longer except that it turned out she liked to chew electrical cords. My mother found a new home for her where she would have a lot of room to run around without the risk of turning into a fried bunny.

When I was in Walla Walla, Washington, I played Killer Bunnies with some friends. That was a fun, low key game. Just playing it is the fun part.

I make a conscious effort to avoid products tested on animals, although I’m happy to support those lines of companies that are not tested on animals in order to encourage them to deliver more products that are animal friendly. For example, I use Herbal Essences, which supposedly isn’t tested on animals; however, Clairol has tested many of its other products on animals. I acknowledge that this is a complicated issue. For example, I’ve heard that many of the companies that solely produce lines that are not tested on animals rely on the research of companies that did. I don’t use very many products though. Physically, I’m low maintenance. One test that is done for shampoo is done on the eyes of rabbits. I had an eye problem on my trip and am feeling especially sympathetic.

It’s a bit shitty to be at a beach when you are experiencing light sensitivity. Fortunately, I had my sunglasses with me. Conveniently, my host in San Francisco is a doctor. He had a look at it and we decided that I should go to the ER to have it checked out. We were not optimistic about getting an appointment ophthalmologist. At the ER, the doctors wrote me a prescription and sent me to an ophthalmologist because you have to see one whenever you are putting steroids in your eyes. Fortunately, they made the appointment for me, so I was able to go in the morning with minimum disruption to my vacation. This is because they lower your eye’s ability to fight off infection. My eye is getting better, but I have to go see another ophthalmologist again this week. It was very red and I’d gotten a white spot in my cornea. Imagine thinking about trying to find your engagement ring when you are annoyed by the bright gray clouds and the sun reflecting off the sand. I should point out that the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is gorgeous and not to be missed. Not to worry. Friends are more important than rings.

My husband, Josh, was born in the year of the rabbit.

Have you ever done the bunny hop? I’ve just learned that it was created in San Francisco.

Josh, Liz, Mike and I ate like extremely well-fed bunnies at Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. (Dr. Mike was our host.) Although I don’t eat beef, I enjoy the meats that I do eat a lot (pork, chicken, fish … no bunnies). I’m also very fond of cheese. My friend Jason Rosenhouse hates cheese, except on Pizza. I wonder about the evolution of the bunny. Jason is one of my favorite people. He shared a house with my husband for a year in graduate school.

Cafe Gratitude struck us as the sort of restaurant you should go to if you are in Berkeley, as in when in Berkeley keep an open mind. As Oberlin College graduates, there was nothing particularly weird about going to a vegan restaurant based for an affirmative dining experience. I had the I am effervescent and the I am elated mixed in with the I am celebrating. The restaurant has a goal of having 0 waste at the end of the day, so they ran out of the filling for the I am elated (an enchilada) and offered to fill it with the I am celebrating (a vegan chili). Dinner ranked as some of the best food I’ve ever had animal, vegetable or mineral. It was also an incredible experience. Have you ever tried cashew sour cream? It’s tasty and gluten-free, although I don’t suppose it’s actually lower calorie than regular sour cream. They can make several of their menu items without nuts, which is good because the last time I checked bunnies don’t eat nuts. Technically nuts aren’t live. We were all considering going back again.

Today I went over to The Purl District for a quick look. It’s in Silverton, Oregon. It’s a really nice shop. I love that there is a coffee shop upstairs and they sell their own hand-dyed yarn called it’s a colorful life. Turns out the woman working there today raises angora rabbits and had someone spun it into sock yarn for her. It’s very soft. It’s possible that the hand dyer may buy some of it for sock yarns. Here’s hoping. They were quite friendly and invited me to sit and knit a while. I did, but unfortunately, this led to a parking ticket. I’ll tell you more about my purchases later because this is a totally out of order bunny reference.

Everyone should own a set of these scissors. They stand up. I think they are really clever and it was worth breaking $8.00 into my yarn budget for them. I bought them from Giant Robot in the Haight in San Francisco. I got the last white pair, but they still have green and orange. If you hunt around online using ‘rabbit scissors’ as your keywords, you’ll find that they come in many colors and are widely available. They claim that they are kid friendly.

All this so I could show off my new scissors.

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Tags: animals, bunnies, cafe_gratitude, food, knitting_tools, pikes_place_market, san_francisco, seattle, travel, yarn_shop_reviews