Groundhogs, Michael Robbins, and the End of the World

Thoughts near evening

I:

At twilight, the rabbits are legion.  (I’ve wanted to start an essay with that sentence for ages.)  They appear at the shady borders of the flowerbeds and under the hedges and along the footpaths and access lanes behind the houses.  They may be timid beasts, but this is their hour—too late for hawks, too early for owls—and nothing can prevent them fro…