Rabbit hollow is suddenly vacant

This week I noticed that the rabbit-sized hollow scratched in my front lawn shows signs of vacancy, there are just a few wispy tufts of fur left on the lawn. A rabbit used to sleep there under the streetlights, and it kept the edges nibbled as trim as a hedge. A fox must have come up from the woods of Ewing Manor Park II. The spring scurry of squirrels is gone too, probably taken by the fox. As each year goes along there are fewer and fewer squirrels, but each spring there are more so some must survive.

Woke up late, had coffee, gave my rose bushes a few sharp raps with a broom handle to knock off the Japanese beetles, and encouraged the old cat to step out into the heat of the day. I have not seen a grasshopper for several decades, but Margaret brought me a small, brown, perfect one. It was unmarred so I set it free. Just as I was finishing homemade potato salad for breakfast, Bob drove up to mow my lawn, always a pleasure to see him. He is still young enough to whirl the mower around my yard like it was a dance partner, nice to watch him on the sly. He certainly knows how to mow. He keeps my grass cut on his own schedule and it stays green. He was a law and business reporter for McLean County, retired from the Pantagraph, the local newspaper. Bob is a little stubborn and he insists on trimming my large yard with a hand clipper, which does not work. Regretfully, I have had to hire a professional yard work company to tidy up my scraggly yard.