your brain on laughter

i recently read an article endorsing the effects of laughter on the brain. laughter improves memory, mood and motivation. it has important neuropsychological benefits -"a good knee-slapper produces a chemical reaction that instantly elevates your mood, reduces pain and stress, boosts immunity, exercises your brain, and even strengthens bonds". parker had a good laugh the other night as he joyfully threw a rubber squeaky bone and watched as kimball retrieved it. as he did this over and over again, our funny little guy buried his excited sqeals into his stuffed mickey mouse doll. very cute. just yesterday kate and i were helping gram into the van. she started laughing and shaking and i was trying hard to hold onto her. when i made sure she was safely sitting on the seat i looked up and saw tears running down her cheeks. she has a good laugh. when we got the news that our friend hank wolfgang had died last week, we were saddened, but our sorrow was lifted as i pictured him and mom sitting on opposite ends of the pew in church and shaking the bench with their attempts to stifle laughter. my sister sherry has a good laugh. it starts out quiet, nearly silent and builds to a loud, contagious crescendo. when sue and john were little they designated thursday night as laughing night. the attached pictures should make you laugh! fortunately our family has many such photos that provide endless hours of laughter. we even have a file for "pictures that never should have been taken" in the article i read, a study showed that heart patients benefited with fewer heart attacks and less needed medication with a prescribed thirty minutes per day of laughter. so....go ahead and laugh. it's good for you!

the foot

“friends are angels who lift our feet when our own wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”

the foot...hmmm...very useful. yet perhaps one of the most unattractive parts of the body. it is a rare thing to have very pretty feet. linda wins in our circle. (at least in my opinion, with kate's coming in a close second. although if tasha's toes were not curled up it would most likely be tied with kate.) we try all we can to make them prettier. buff, polish, sand, and in my case a good rub with a very sharp grater. perhaps they are what they are because we abuse them so? they certainly carry a heavy load, in my case, and generally speaking, with the laws of gravity, i believe that to be true to all. we run them ragged, we stub them, we cram them into shoes and walk upon our toes, or walk barefoot and develop leatherlike callouses. i leave mine to such neglect that large crevasses form. we break our toes or twist our ankles yet still demand that the foot buck up and carry us on. in the movie out of africa, the character denys finch-hatton, played by robert redford, contemplates the foot and says something like...there are poems and tributes made about nearly every part of the body except the foot. why is that? well....i don't have an answer. but from now on i am going to be more respectful of the foot.

why i don't love spring

uncle! i give up. i am no longer going to hold my tongue. even though the spring blossoms are pretty ... it is no longer enough. allergies are way too bad and i am now complaining. in fact i am so miserable i may do a little non stop complaining. medications don't work and the mulberry and cedar pollen counts are high. i could tell you this without a weather report. "many clearing throat" was the "indian name" we sisters gave our mother years ago. (aunt mary was "sitting bowling ball", auntie mae "woman who never answers phone", aunt ruby "woman who takes many stitches" etc.) well the allergies and post nasal drip, (hah...drip my heck, more like a running faucet) have made me "many clearing throat". it is obnoxious! i cannot breathe. i have a constant headache, my ears are ringing, my eyes are blurry, my throat is sore and i find myself quite grumpy. they call it rhinitis. this is because you feel like you look like the attached picture.

why i love spring

ah spring. are you finally here? or will you tease us with just one day and disappear into the hot, hot summer? i never can decide if i like spring or autumn best. the fresh new season of growth or the harvest of the fall. i believe they are equally grand in their own right. however, after a long, cold winter, there is something to be said about the therapy of digging in the dirt. getting rid of the old. burying troubles with each turn of the shovel and planting new fresh seeds anxious to grow. i shan't even hardly complain about my allergies. it is just too pretty. one item on my bucket list is to have a "killer" garden. but i will need carrie, or johnny or cindy to help me with that. maybe next year.... for now i will be content with my red buds, petunias, peach blossoms and freshly mowed grass.

something to celebrate

mevlana aka rumi, the 13th century persian poet, is buried in turkey. he focused on connecting the powerful love of God with us on earth. he said, "i looked for God in all the temples, mosques and churches, and found him in my heart. the epitaph on his tomb reads, " when we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men."

in turkey among the ephesian ruins near the ancient library, the third largest in the world nearly 2000 years ago, is a large theatre which could hold 25,000 people. there are 4 statues of women representing knowledge, friendship, understanding and wisdom, keeping watch at the gate. it was in this theatre that paul planned to give his talk, instructing the ephesians to stop worshipping manmade gods and turn to the good news of Jesus Christ. i like the symbolism that four women would stand guard to the most powerful message on earth.

i am surrounded by powerful, loving, tender, determined, kind, adventurous, wise, smart and faithful women. they too stand guard. protecting loved ones and spreading good cheer. they seek God and find him in the heart. how lucky i am to be among them. happy mother's day, happy womanhood day!