there are pleasures in
madness, in being mad, known
only to madmen
I have a source that attributes the saying, There are pleasures in madness known only to madmen, to Dr, Johnson (also known as Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709- 1784), who was, according to Wikipedia, an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls him “arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history”.)
As I was working on words to bring together walking on the beach in March and March Madness, the quote popped out of my brain and I hammered out a haiku.
Then I put back into the google to see if I could find some context for the quote and what I found was, There is a pleasure sure, In being mad which none but madmen know.” from John Dryden in Act II, scene 1 of The Spanish Friar (1681).
Dr. Johnson.
John Dryden.
Madness.
March.
March Madness and the Beach.
On the Beach in March.
I grew up in a place where March was mean.
I grew up where, as Garrison Keillor wrote of the Great Lakes/Upper Midwest, God invented March so that none drinkers would know what a hangover was like.
Now I don’t.
Now I live where March is kind of nice.
March is still a month of for Madness but for me, that doesn’t include the weather.
And this led into my search for a haiku.
I was trying to find the words to express that while my team was no longer playing this March, I was able to compensate as I was able to walk on the beach in March on my lunch break.
Such madness.
Such in madness.
Suffice it to say, there are pleasures in walking in the waves on the beach at lunchtime, but you have to work near the beach to know that.
Which asks the question, am I only trying to rub it in on folks who don’t work near the beach?
Am I only trying to rub it on folks, friends and family who live up North where it is 44 degrees and overcast?
Surely, it would be a sign, sure, of some sort of madness to be so mean.
There are pleasures in madness, known only to madmen.
Which begs, the question, would I enjoy my lunch time walk on the beach as much if I couldn’t brag about in social media.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Honestly?
YES I WOULD!
After all, there are pleasures in walking in the waves on the beach at lunchtime, but you have to work near the beach to know that.
No Haiku For You 