804th Friday Blog Roundup

The twins and I have still been volunteering during the lockdown because it’s human-free and outside. We clean enclosures and feed the animals.

This week, we were mucking in two separate spots, and they called me over because a rabbit had just given birth—as in minutes to an hour earlier. One of the bunnies in the litter didn’t make it—it was only partially formed—and the rest were outside the nest area. The mother was lying down, too tired to move in the heat, though one of her friends helped us along, hopping around the nest. We got to gently set down each of the nine, living baby bunnies in the nest where they squirmed together, burrowing down into the hay and fur. The mother’s rabbit friend watched over them.

My heart exploded.

Newborn bunnies are about the size of a mouse; hairless with their eyes closed. Each one was so warm and sleepy and snuggly. By next week, they will have fur and long ears. But right now, they are at the start of everything. We didn’t know they were going to be there when we got to work, which made the moment that much more magical.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff. (Especially because it was the 14th anniversary of the Roundup)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Inconceivable has a post about her truly final cycle. After they finished, there was still a feeling that they shouldn’t be finished. After a lot of back-and-forth, they tried one last time. And got a positive before another loss. It is truly the end of their road now. She writes so achingly beautifully about her daughter, named after a character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: “If somehow walking out of Mordor with her is the biggest battle we faced, this is the day we go to the Grey Havens and bid good-bye to something precious and special and end this final chapter.”

Infertile Phoenix has an empowering post about not remaining stuck. She has been waiting for a moving truck, and it fell through on the assigned date. She responds with a cheeky: “Oh a two week wait that ended with an undesired outcome? I’ve been here before. Lots of times. Moving forward!” That made me smile, big time.

The Road Less Travelled has a post about Auntie’s Day. Like the rabbit aunt above, aunts make things better. She points out that few people posted about it and asks, “How else do we spread the word that this holiday exists, and that aunts deserve recognition too?” We start by telling each other about it—early, often, and even after. It’s the fourth Sunday in July, so put July 25th on your calendar.

Finally, Not a Wasted Word changed her mind on kids being in the classroom this fall, and she talks about the situation from a teacher’s point-of-view. I think she makes an excellent argument, so I’ll let you pop over there and read her thoughts.

The roundup to the Roundup: Baby bunnies. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between July 24 – July 31) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.