Steve Lundeberg

Happy Oct. 1 everyone, and along with that, let me say “rabbit” to all of you out there in Blog Land.

Why am I saying rabbit?

Well, I’m honestly not completely sure, but it goes like this:

Shortly after meeting my wife more than a quarter-century ago, I learned of this little “game,” we’ll charitably call it, that her family played on the first day of each month: Everyone tried to be the first one to say “rabbit” to the other members of the household.

Apparently this was something they had picked up from another family in the 1950s while living in Pittsburgh and, well, it struck me as possibly the stupidest thing I had ever heard.

So for a time I took turns ignoring and deriding the rabbit game, but then I guess my inherent (some would say obsessive) competitiveness took over and I made it my monthly mission to be the first (which I usually am).

In a related, bizarre note, after I started working at the DH in 1990, I learned our then news editor, Jan Lafeman, and her family played a variation of the game; their version was simply saying rabbit on the first of each month, for good luck, but Jan liked the competitive aspect of my in-laws’ version, so she and I began engaging in a monthly rabbit-off with each other. We went to somewhat ridiculous links to beat each, but I’ll spare you the details of them right now.

Jan left the paper in 1993, but by then we’d recruited then People page editor Mary Parkinson to play, and when reporter Jennifer Moody joined the staff a few years later, we roped her in to (subsequently, we’ve tried to lure in city editor Karen Petersen, but I don’t think she can get over how dumb it really is and I can’t really fault her for that).

Anyway, in honor of a Top 7 day coinciding with a first of the month, our list this week deals with history’s top bunnies. Here we go:

1. Bugs Bunny (think I still have the Bugs Bunny jack in the box I got when I was about 4).

2. The Easter Bunny.

3. Velveteen Rabbit (love was life itself for this fellow).

4. Thumper (the really cool nurse at my doctor's office was wearing Thumper-themed scrubs for my last blood-drawing.)

5. (tie) Peter Rabbit.

5. (tie) Benjamin Bunny (Benjamin and Peter share this spot in honor of the 10 million hours I spent reading Beatrix Potter books to my kids, over and over).

6. Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids.

7. The Energizer Bunny.

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