Killer Bunnies

My good friends Tim and Leigh Ann got me a card game for my last birthday called Killer Bunnies. The object is to collect carrots while keeping your bunnies alive and killing all your opponent's bunnies. It is a sick, twisted, demented, evil game, and I love it. The learning curve is a bit steep, especially if there's no one who knows the game to show you how it goes. But once you have the hang of it, it is a lot of fun. There is strategy to the game, but it really is just fun to play, meaning it doesn't make the least bit of difference who wins. In fact, sometimes it can be very unclear who wins.

When we were packing before our vacation, Maria suggested we bring Killer Bunnies with us. I was against the idea - with more kids than adults, I didn't figure we adults would find much time to play. (Adult is a purely relative term here.) And with the oldest kid in the bunch being 8, we could only play it if the kids were asleep. This point cannot be made too clear:

Killer Bunnies is not a game for kids.

If kids see Killer Bunnies, they want desperately to play Killer Bunnies, and will make this abundantly clear to you over and over again until you relent. Then one of their bunnies gets whacked, and they are inconsolable and they HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU!!! We know this from experience.

I knew rather well that my sister would enjoy the game. But figuring we would find little to no adult-only time at my sister's, I thought it would be a waste of valuable suitcase space to bring it. Luckily, Maria is smarter and brought it anyway. A couple nights into our stay, the Killer Bunnies came out. And for the rest of the week, we gave up sleep for Killer Bunnies.

Part of the fun of Killer Bunnies is the discussions about some rules, which I think may have been left intentionally vague for that very purpose. Also fun, as in Risk, is trying to convince your opponents to attack each other and to leave you alone. Sometimes you have no idea what a card will do, so you play it anyway and hope for the best. But as I said, it doesn't matter at all who wins - it's just fun to play. If you're at least 12, maybe 14.

The Berkshires

Last week we visited my sister Paisley and her family in rural New England. Ella had visited them last year with her grandma, but the rest of us hadn't been there since they moved.

We went to Albany by train. We like trains, especially in Europe and Japan where they really know what they're doing. And we dislike airports a little more each time we visit one. Then there's the environmental impact - how do trains compare with planes on greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile? I guess it would be favorable but I admit I don't know for sure.

The ride from Chicago to Albany takes about 16 hours, overnight. If you're by yourself and can manage in a coach seat for that long, it's pretty cheap. However I would not try it with two young children. We had two tiny rooms in the sleeper car. The room is barely larger than a twin bed, and there is a toilet in one corner. I found this extremely weird. It was more like a bathroom with a bed than a bedroom. I would much rather share a separate lavatory with the rest of the car, thank you.

The top bunk is raised up during the day so there's more headroom below, then lowered at night so that a tiny person can fit up above. To get to the top bunk, one climbs up the toilet and the tiny shelf, then twists around in a DNA-like helical manner.

I am a light sleeper. Amtrak leases access to its tracks from the freight companies that own them. Some of the sections are delightfully smooth, but many are horribly bumpy. The top bunk has straps on the open side to help keep you from falling out, and you need them. Most people, myself included, stand no real chance of actually sleeping on this ride. Some resting perhaps, but REM is right out. My dad, God bless him, could sleep anywhere in any position under any conditions, and would have had no trouble at all.

From Albany we drove the rest of the way to my sister's. This is complicated because the train actually stops in Rensellaer, a very nice station but far, far away from the nearest rental car. You have to go to the Albany airport, which is a $40 cab ride from the train station. When you return the car, same thing.

Rural New England is rural, yes, but it is a hell of a lot more interesting than, say, rural Illinois. There are hills, for example, big ones even. And trees! Lots of 'em! And the roads are twisty and charming.

More to come soon, including NYC and Killer Bunnies...