You can’t make this stuff up

Ah, Oregon. We used to be known as the state Where It Rains All the Time, Where Tonya Harding Was Born and Where One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Was Filmed.

Now Oregon is going to be known as the state Where Rabbits Get Room Service.

A local woman is making news because she’s been busted–again–for “allegedly hoarding” rabbits. On probation from an earlier rabbit-related conviction, she was popped the other day for having 13 of the long-eared critters in the Portland-area hotel room where she has been living. This would mean she’s violated the condition of her parole which said she had to stay 100 yards away from any rabbit.

If this wasn’t so downright wacky, and let’s be honest, funny, it would be just plain sad. Whenever I read a story like this, I marvel at the infinite number of ways we humans find to try to make our own small worlds feel safe and right.

I come from a long line of people for whom activities like compulsive hand-washing and late-night sock-drawer tidying are practically religious ritual, so I’m not as far from the bunny-harboring end of the spectrum as I’d like.

Judaism has a prayer for nearly every occasion, and if there is one thanking God for making my compulsive behaviors fall within the law (and the tolerance of my near and dear), I probably should be muttering it right now.