Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Opal “Grandma” Habisch Column 4/20/98



Dad came into the house and said, “We have a family
living under the porch.”

Mother said, “What do you mean? Nobody can live under
the porch.”

“Well,” Dad said, “someone is. Their names
are Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rabbit.”

“Oh, I want to go and see them,” I said. But
Dad said they wouldn’t be out now. They only come out at night.

Mother got some cabbage leaves out of the refrigerator.
“I can get them to come out,” she said. She laid the cabbage on
the porch. We all stood by the door and waited, but nobody came.

Dad said, “Supper is ready. Let’s go and eat.”

All at once we heard a noise. Dad went back to the door
to look and there they were. The rabbits had come to eat their supper.

“I have some old carrots they can have for their supper
tomorrow,” Mother said.

So that was the way it was. Every day when we ate our supper,
Mother put out something for the rabbits to eat.

One day, Dad said, “I don’t think you should be feeding
those rabbits. They will never go away. After all, would you leave if you
got a free meal every day?”

So we stopped feeding them and the rabbits stopped coming
up on the porch. A week went by and we didn’t see them even once.

Then one day Dad said, “Well, we have company. It
is Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit and family.”

Sure enough, there were five babies and the mother and
dad rabbit on the porch.

Mother got some food for them and the whole family of seven
rabbits came to eat. They were so cute. They even let me pick them up.

They came up on the porch every day at suppertime, waiting
to be fed. One day the door to the house was left open by mistake.

Mother said, “Who has been into my chocolate chips?
They are all over my kitchen floor.”

Dad came into the kitchen to take a look. “Mother,”
he said, “those are not chocolate chips. We better look for a rabbit
in the house!”

We all looked for the rabbit. All of a sudden one ran out
the door, and then the other six ran out behind it.

Mother said, “Oh my, I was almost going to pick up
those “chocolate chips.”

Dad laughed and laughed. “I think we better move those
rabbits to the barn,” he said, “so Mother doesn’t decide to make
chocolate chip cookies.”

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