Hybrids

If you think the Toyota Prius is a pretty cool car, join the club. It may look like a not-so-roomy space capsule, but once you ride in one, you'd be amazed at how big it actually is. Also, it's silent. Which freaks me out a bit. You don't hear a motor running (most of the time) and when you stop at a stop sign or the like, you think the car stalled.

I've never driven one, but my parents have one, so I've ridden in it a bit in the year since they got it. It's a bit freaky, I gotta tell you, until you get used to it. I'm not there yet.

So next time I go home, I have another ride waiting for me. Not in the Prius. Tonight, Dad and Jannine bought a hybrid Toyota Highlander, which apparently comes in "normal" engine mode or hybrid engine mode. My parents, being the environmentally friendly people they are, got the hybrid. They spend four hours negotiating, but they drove the sucker home at 10:15, calling me on the way. I was just coming out of dinner with "my Maggie" (nothing like a four-hour, cancel-the-movie, oh-my-god-we're-even-too-late-for-the-late-movie! dinner with your best friend), so my 'rents left a message on my voicemail:

"Hi, Dana. This is Nnine [/neen/]. We just bought tires tonight and were driving back home. Love you, Sweetie. Talk to you soon."

What my clever stepmom failed to mention was that a car came attached to those tires. Well, an SUV, but still. They made the decision in two days, having gotten a call from the Toyota dealership on Tuesday and having the seed planted in their brains. God love 'em. It takes me an hour to figure out which shirt I'm going to wear that day.

At any rate, hybrids are wicked cool. "And this relates to bunnies how, McCurley?" you may be asking. I'll tell ya. Keep your pants on.

My kids are all mutts, except Hops. For some reason, I get thoroughbred boys, but my three girls are mutts. Amber was a Mini Rex. Juniper Hops is a Dutch. Plain and simple. However, true to form with the female sex, my girls are more complicated. Ariel and Kayla are Dutch/Netherland Dwarf mixes (their mottled fur gives the mutt quality away). SweetPea is an English Spot Rex, as far as I can tell. I was tempted for a while to call her a Mini Rex, but she ceased being a mini anything a long time ago. She's a big, beautiful bunny. She weighs like 6 pounds, which is close to twice the size of Kayla, who could fit in your hand almost, save her abundant fur. Ariel used to be teased relentlessly for her bodacious voluptuousness until the bigger Pea came along and "grew into her own."

So, from hybrid cars to hybrid bunnies. Somehow I did it again. Stay tuned for the next silly inclusion of bunnies in a topic where you never thought they'd show up.