Year of the Hare

 Yes, I know that millions of Chinese will disagree; but this year really has been the year of the hare for us.

I was reminded of it today when we went for a short drive in the local countryside only to come across a hare sitting in the middle of the road ahead of us, looking most upset that we were disturbing him.  He lolloped off into a nearby field, turning round after a few yards to look at us staring at him, then finally went on his way.  It really was a privilege to get such a great view of him.

We saw many of them earlier in the year; and Phil even caught sight of a group "boxing" in a field as we drove by - by the time I'd looked, we'd gone too far past, but he was enthralled by having seen it, if only briefly.  We then saw them on several occasions throughout a holiday, but generally from a considerable distance.  Today's sighting was by far the best.

We do love nature in general, especially birds.  And part of the reason we like Florida is that we get to see so many different creatures we'd otherwise not see in the wild.  On our last trip to Florida - a very short one for various reasons - I even fell in love with a different species of spider.  However on that trip, it was probably the iguanas which caught our attention the most.   We always look forward to seeing something new, even when it's in our own country.  Although sometimes the more common creatures here will still make us smile.  Ducks and donkeys are pretty much guaranteed to make us happy, no matter how down we're feeling.