Sometimes one notices the strangest things...
The other evening I was channel-surfing, looking for something interesting to watch on tv, when I saw that the movie "Rain Man" was about to air on one of the more obscure stations. Since that's a film I loved in the past, I decided to watch it again. So I settled in with my popcorn and blanket, and it began.
Partway through the movie there's a scene where Raymond ('Rain Man') starts getting visibly upset when his brother Charlie - who is talking to Raymond's caretaker, Vern - begins to absentmindedly pick up books and thumb through them. Obviously the books are important to Raymond, and as Charlie picks up one, and then another, Raymond gets rather agitated. He begins pacing back and forth, back and forth, mumbling to himself...then gets louder and louder until the others in the room notice. The pacing becomes more frantic, and you can hear Raymond saying, "Uh-oh...uh-oh" as Charlie holds onto one book in particular. It finally escalates into "Uh-oh...uh-oh...UH-OH, Vern...uh-oh...VERN...V-E-R-N! He's touching it...V-E-R-N!!
VERN!!
UH-OH!!", spelling out Vern's nameas his fear rises.Once they realize what is upsetting him, Charlie puts the bookback on the shelfand Raymond settles down.
As I was watching this scene I thought, 'This looks familiar somehow. It reminds me of someone". Yet for the life of me I couldn't figure out who, and so I forgot about it.
Two days later. I start to clean the rabbit's cage, crawling inside to first reach the litter boxes and scoop out the messy contents. As I'm doing this Anna, who had been lying placidly in a corner, comes over to inspect. Yofi, of course, has other things on his mind and goes charging out of the room to do who-knows-what to anything that is within his reach. So Anna comes running up behind me and gives me a nudge. I ignore her and continue on, scoop in one hand and bag in the other. She nudges me again. I ignore again. Then she runs out of the cage and over to the door, looking back, watching me, as I go about my work.
Litter boxes done, Imove on to removing and replacing soiled blankets. Anna is still watching, only now she is running in little circles, darting back and forth, coming over to me, giving a nip, running away, returning...I ignore her as I'm used to her antics by now, whenever I clean the rabbits' area. I pull the soiled blanket up from the cage floor, and Anna, seeing this, runs over to the door of the room, spins in circles, goes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...
And that's when it strikes me. Anna is my 'Rain Man'! Whenever I disrupt the inner workings of her and Yofi's love nest she gets into a tizzy, at first curious, but tension and anxiety mounting as the job continues. So this time I sat back and laughed, as I could see the resemblance so clearly now...Anna, pacing back and forth, back and forth, me touching her litter box, then touching her blankie...and she frantically begins to run about, rushing to the door where Yofi has vacated, calling (in her little bunny head), "Uh-oh...uh-oh...UH-OH, Yofi...uh-oh...YOFI...Y-O-F-I! She's touching it...Y-O-F-I!!
YOFI!!
UH-OH!!"
It's funny, the things we may miss when we're not paying attention. And now I'm wondering...if I toss a pile of hay onto the floor, does she actually count each and every strand within seconds of their landing?
"UH-OH!! Y-O-F-I!!!!!!"
