Virtual Quill

Ms. Fuscus just doesn’t let up.
I wondered last week how long the radio silence coming from their household would last, and the answer was, not very. I do give her props for coming up with a logical engineering solution to the limited church space (My family fills up the pews, while Fenton’s hangs from the rafters.), but the point is, WE HAVEN’T SET THE DATE!
Sorry about the all caps. Bad netiquette, I know.
I feel sorry for Fenton, who’s caught in the middle. Complicating things even further is Tree, who has been a nurturing, maternal presence in Fenton’s life for some time. Tree is supportive (literally) and doesn't make demands.
In other news, Kell did acquiesce to Rudy giving half of his Easter Bunny scholarship to Fiona. Kell insisted that everything be in writing, so Dad arranged to have a motion passed by the Rabbit Council. He even set it up so that Coney (who attends all the meetings) cast the final vote.
I got an E-mail from Tammy. It’s the pollen season, which she feeds on. Angstrom is a growing little firefly, and Tammy says he’s almost as bright as Ray. Together, father and son can really illuminate that lighthouse.
Up next, I’ve got the usual end-of-semester headaches, including exams. Today's question: Do human students have finals at this time of year?

It’s late spring, which to me means one thing. Final exams in three weeks.
Also, the insects are coming out, and Fenton’s parents have been feasting on the new population. This is when our Northern hemisphere becomes a big smorgasbord for us insectivores. In particular, we have a large crop of tent caterpillars this season. Yum.
So far the Fuscus family has been focused on eating instead of harassing me to set a wedding date. We’ll see how long that fortunate state of affairs lasts.
Meanwhile, Rudy and Fiona delivered last week’s Easter eggs with only one incident. A certain bird of prey mistook Rudy for a prey species, with the outcome being that Coney discovered a Very Special Egg just for her.
Finally, here’s the YouTube video of the week. (No, it’s not the woman from Scotland singing on that TV show.) The human version of this video probably isn’t as entertaining as the one on our side of the portal, since we had dozens of species participating.
This week’s question: I know humans are omnivores who eat pretty much anything, but that only few of you eat insects. What insects do you eat?

Rudy and Fiona just returned from distributing the Easter eggs all over the county, with a very special “egg” just for Coney.
Rudy did a very selfless thing this week in arranging for Fiona to get half of his college scholarship money. It’s completely fair since Fiona has done half of the work, and the Rabbit Council approved the change by a simple voice vote. Kell had reservations, of course (looking out for her son above all else), but Rudy’s logical arguments swayed her.
Of course, he couldn’t resist getting off a verbal potshot at me. A scholarship and marriage are two different things. Ahem.
This was all after Dad and Kell returned from their Second Honeymoon. They’d encountered a Bear family who’d been cheated out of the resort they owned, because they followed the instructions of a financial advisor named Goldilocks who had underhanded motives. She abused the trust they had in her, and she gave them advice that enabled her to take over their property. It turned out, however, that she was lousy at running a resort and it was already teetering on the edge of solvency when my folks showed up.
Kell walked around the cabins brushing her fur, and the few remaining guests fled in terror at the scent of a wolf. Goldilocks couldn’t make her own payments (due the next day), and instead of going through the whole foreclosure/bankruptcy thing she just agreed to sell it back to the Bears. Yeah, she made a profit. Everyone seemed to live happily ever after.
One note. Rudy made a comment about Dad being a rodent. He does know the difference between lagomorphs and rodents, but he’s never let a fact stand in the way of a good insult.
Today's question: How do humans of the Christian faith celebrate Easter? I'm guessing it has nothing to do with eggs and bunnies!

I was right.
Dad was in mortal danger.
In fact, he would have been eaten if not for an unusually scrupulous bear.
In search of an Internet connection, Dad had wandered upon a cottage made of alfalfa and clover. (Rabbit candy!) Sometimes his lack of fear is a liability, and in this case it led to him taking a bite of the building material. It turned out to be drugged, designed to lure unsuspecting rabbits and knock them out.
The cottage belonged to the bear family that had once owned the resort, and was now living in poverty. The son (formerly known as "Baby Bear") could have simply eaten Dad while staying entirely within the rules of Carnivorism which states all predation must be anonymous. Even though he recognized Dad from an earlier stay at the resort (Rabbits Dad's size are pretty memorable.) such a fleeting encounter wouldn't have precluded a later attempt, especially since Dad wasn't being individually targeted.
Even so, the bear spared Dad's life and put him a cage so no one else would eat him. That's where Kell found him a few moments after he came to.
I'll write more next weekend about how events played out after that. Unfortunately the dimensional portals are unstable right now, so I won't be able to respond to postings this week. So talk amongst yourselves! Here's a question: what are humans' favorite candies?