Stopping to smell the Irises

As some of you know, Treasure Valley's Iris past away due to sudden heat stroke. She was a doe that I sold to Lilly, a girl in our 4-H group, along with her sister. It was very unexpected since she past away back in April when it wasn't hotter than 81 in the sun.

This was the first death of a senior from my rabbitry (We have only raised rabbits for three years) I struggled with grieving for a couple of weeks; eventually, I accepted it. About a week ago, wild Irises blossomed in our backyard. Somehow, the Irises got me thinking...

It's hard not to think about the future. Especially when something exciting is going to happen. Who doesn't like to think about their summer plans during the dull school year? Maybe you can't wait to settle down in a house of your own. Or perhaps something as simple as waiting for the weekend.

As rabbit breeders, we can't help but think of the future. Waiting for that big show or those juniors to grow into their coats. It can be hard to not get excited about what's coming up and constantly think about more plans for your rabbits. But when we do that we tend to miss something...

Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in planning for Fall nationals in the spring that we don't stop to enjoy the present. Yes, breeding for convention juniors is important, but are you enjoying yourself while you wait? We rabbit breeders need to stop obsessing over next month's plans. Instead, we should take the stop to love the animals and laugh at their quirky antics. We need to call up a friend a talk about what we're enjoying each day, not what we'll enjoy tomorrow.

~Gwen