Things Hoped For | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Please join me in welcoming Author Michele Rhem, who presents us with her poignant memoirs of the Rabbit Patch, where her diaries weave tales of a simpler, expressive life lost to many, but gathered together in her most familiar environs - the Rabbit Patch.

    I returned to the rabbit patch from Elizabeth City and found things in good order. The boys had kept the place tidy - and Christopher Robin was sleeping peacefully, as if he were a well mannered cat and had not caused a ruckus, recently. Cash, my boxer was especially glad to see me. Cash had nothing to feel shame about, neither did Moon Shine, formerly known as "the wild kitten". Moon Shine is now a pudgy kitten with a most unusual voice. He s quite talkative and makes all sorts of sounds, that I have never heard any other cat make. At times, he sounds like a small child-at other times, he sounds like a tropical bird. He was singing and Cash was dancing while Christopher Robin slept through my homecoming. Even so, I could not hold it against him. I was so glad he was home.

    The drive home on Tuesday was almost treacherous. A thick blanket of fog made the now familiar drive, seem like a strange venture. Places that I now consider my landmarks, were hidden - even the highway seemed to unfold only a few feet before me. At times, I was sure I was the only one left in the world, then there would be a sign of life in headlights that appeared for a few seconds and then vanished just as quickly.

    The lights in the old farmhouse on the rabbit patch were a welcome sight. When supper was cooking, I sat down to relax. I thought how quiet the world is when fog fills the air. All of the commotion at the beginning of the new year seemed a long ways off. I liked the stillness that hovered over the rabbit patch, like a "spell " that prevented any sort of rushing or haste. The ride home, with its' obscurity meant I would not miss the serenity of seeing how magical mist looks hanging over water.

    Fog renders a sense of timelessness in the countryside. All of the rabbit patch becomes a "Quiet Garden" and the old trees, bare now, in January looked like they were wearing tinsel.

    The animals were all napping as I stared out the window by the morning table. I could barely make out the biggest old barn . Sometimes it is like that-we do not always have total clarity to see things. When things make good sense, we feel content and confident-and if it were always so, I guess that faith would not seem so necessary-but it is when visibility of solutions are hindered, we have the opportunity to practice what we believe. I have read that "faith is the substance of things hoped for" and I have found it to be a beautiful truth.

    The kitchen was smelling like"home" with a ham baking, so I decided to peel some potatoes. I am as happy peeling potatoes as some folks are counting money- and that is a good thing as I usually have more potatoes than money. I did some "wishful thinking" til the pot was full. Christopher Robin slept the whole time- and so, all was well at the rabbit patch .