on being funny

I recently posted something on Face Book and a few kind people put up comments to it. Seeing one such comment made me smile good and hard: it came from someone I haven't seen or heard from in years (though I do track her life on Face Book). We met when we both signed up to do volunteer work in Ghana. I was there for a week. She was there much longer. I will never forget her: she had the remarkable ability to make me laugh. Not just a chuckle -- real belly laughs, every single evening of my time there.

I love meeting people who make me laugh!

It's not that I would be drawn to someone who is a natural comic. Or someone who shoots forth banter as if she or he were reciting paragraphs from a joke book. Too, it's easy to poke fun of people and make a joke of it. I'm not cool with that. But what I do love is meeting someone who looks at life, especially her own life, with both wit and humor and is ready to share that with you. Magic happens. My pal in Ghana had the ability to spark that magic.

I've not known many people who have this gift. I myself lack it -- I am not especially great at being  funny when I talk about my own life. I know, you've noticed!  But others have played that role beautifully for me. My college best buddy, for example. Oh, did she make me laugh, and I loved her for it! She still does that to me when we occasionally talk on the phone. (I'm not sure that others are affected in this way by her. Laughter is a two way street -- you need the right audience. But for me, every story she tells has a satirical humility to it that is just so endearing! And funny.)

I wonder if you have such people in your life? I hope so.

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Today I begin my day with only my phone as a camera for the morning walk.

It has a wider angle, so that's always fun. Still, it's not my baby Fuji. Sigh...

Breakfast? Well, it follows muffin baking. The kids had gobbled up all the muffins I had baked on Sunday and my daughter looked wistful as she stared at the empty plate, so I decided to bake up a batch and take it over. She voted for sour cherry!  (For breakfast, I pick muffin over oatmeal...)

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In the afternoon, Snowdrop comes over. I'm fumbling with my phone camera and the girl is quick in her movements! But she does pause by her favorite flower. Let's do one photo before the flower drops all its petals...

 (A new Bad Kitty book? Heaven!)

 

 

 (Snowdrop returns to making her own books, proudly displaying her efforts to Ed here...)

 

Later, much later, we go to the corn farm to pick up some more of the good stuff for dinner. I was reading recently that the best way to cook super fresh corn is to stand it up in a tall pot and steam it in an inch of water. Okay, I will do that tonight and report back!

 

(At home, a quick hello to Sandpiper...)

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 Dinner: I have a lot of basil, so it's a no brainer that it's time to reach for the pine nuts and olive oil and garlic.  And parmesan. A pesto over a piece of sauteed fish and... yes, corn, standing up in a pot, steamed to utter yumminess. Yes, that it's true: it's that good!

(And on the edge of farmette lands  -- sandhill cranes, doing their evening song and dance.)