Mad As a March Hare

“The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won’t be raving mad -- at least not so made as it was in March.” 

- Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland

I haven’t seen any March hares yet this year but there are plenty of tiny little buds forming on the trees and bushes. And I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. Some of the buds are more obvious than others but some you almost need a magnifying glass to see. But trust me, they are there. I have a keen eye for all things related to spring. It’s funny in a way because here I was, all set to embrace winter with my cross-country skis and long-distance ice skates, and now it’s warming up. I can easily admit however, that the feeling of spring permeating the air all around me is absolutely wonderful. If not a bit weird and quirky and possibly even mad. I can understand why they say, “Mad as a March hare.” 

Apparently March is mating season for hares. Being a female myself and knowing quite well the madness associated with a flood of hormones, the madness of hares is completely understandable. Heck, the madness of us regular folk is understandable. It's one thing to fight the winter blues but how do you fight March madness (not to be confused with the NCAA Men’s Division Basketball)? Perhaps it isn't to be fought at all but embraced. Perhaps it's just to get your lasso out, rope it, wrangle it into submission and then put a harness on it, like a cowboy taming a wild horse, and ride it bucking and screaming right into spring. 

That’s how I plan to do it. I’m gonna pull out my cowgirl hat and rope and... wait kitty! That’s for me to use to tame the March madness... come back here with my rope!