Funny Bunny Day

The train trip to Thetford:

When I picked up my pre-booked tickets at the station I discovered it was only a ticket. I had somehow managed to buy a single to Thetford, but not a return back. I went into the ticket office to see about buying the return ticket and the woman was kind enough to refund my single and then sell me the whole journey at once, since it was cheaper that way.

The train was very crowded, probably because Easter break just started. I sat in a table seat with three other people. The table seat across the aisle from me had parents and their small child. During the train ride the child started coughing and sounded like he was going to throw up. Instead of hurrying her child to the bathroom, the mother put her hand in front of his mouth to catch the vomit. Needless to say, her one hand didn't even beging to cut it. The kid started coughing again and then threw up all over the table and floor. Thankfully, the Thetford stop came up soon.

Funny Bunny Day:

I was in one of the front rooms at Ancient House armed with my bunny books. The staff decided to provide me with a taxidermied rabbit in a plastic box. There was a hole in the box so that you could reach in and pet the bunny. They warned me that the bunny's paws were delicate and to encourage the kids to pet him on the head. Well, I told every single child to pet the bunny on the head nicely and almost every one tried to put a death grip on the paw. Like a magnet.

One of the books I brought was Antoinette Portis's Not a Box. It went over really well with the very little kids, one of whom had been playing in a box just this morning! On one page the bunny is imagining that his box is a burning sky scraper that he is putting out. A dad commented that this must be an American book based on the sky scraper and the "FD" on the rabbit's helmet for "Fire Department." Guilty as charged. Two of the three books I brought were American.

After the bulk of the visitors had come to hear me read, the staff asked me to help out upstairs because there was a unmanned craft table. So, I spent the rest of the day helping children make rabbit ear headbands, masks, and finger puppets.

The train ride back to Norwich:

The train was almost as crowded as it was this morning. I saw a man sitting alone at a table seat and decided that was as much space as I was going to get. I sat down accross from him before I noticed his dog under the table. It was a nice dog and really didn't bother me, but I could tell that the man was pretty tense for the rest of the ride worrying about how his dog was behaving.

John drove me to and from the train station. What a sweetie!