Something I’d posted to a comment on a previous blog, made me think about times I’ve genuinely laughed out loud, or smiled at a situation.

Decades ago, my husband and I bought a house, and also had an allotment just a few miles away. The plot had been left fallow for a while and the soil wasn’t great, so we dug in some cow manure that my father-in-law knew of. This was really old manure, didn’t smell at all, and it had the biggest worms in it. We bought a ‘drum’, drilled some holes in it to allow excess water to escape, and we placed a good many of these worms in the drum along with well-rotted veggies, in our back garden behind the garage. A wormery if you like. Anyway, between the gardens was a chain-link fence, and the little girl next door, around 6 years old I think, one day asked what was in the drum. I told her it was worms, and we were feeding them. She laughed, so I offered to show her. She then realised I was telling her the truth, and the look of horror on her little face still makes me smile to this day.

I recall a time when we’d gone to visit a castle near our home. We’d seen a sign stating that geese were on the loose, though didn’t think much of it until one went for my son who was quite young at the time. I got between him and the goose, which then pecked me, very hard, on my butt. My (now) ex laughed so much I thought he was going to be sick! I didn’t laugh at the time, though looking back, it must have been a very funny sight: me flailing at a goose with my handbag whilst being assaulted by it.

A long time ago, just after my divorce, I used to visit ‘home’ at mealtimes and enjoy a meal with my parents. I had my own place though wasn’t feeling very settled, and I had an open invitation to eat with them. One day, I decided it was time to ‘grow up’ and I bought some meat, and veggies, and planned to cook myself a meal for a change. Well, I started to prep the meal, and realised that I had forgotten to buy/take any saucepans with me after the divorce. I could have gotten upset, or cross with myself, though instead I simply sat on the kitchen floor and laughed at how silly I was. I then rang my mother and asked if I could bring food over to cook; of course, she said yes. She then sorted out some old pans for me to take home to see me through until I could buy some of my own. I bought new pans that weekend, this was around 1993, and I still have, and frequently use, those pans to this day. They don’t make them like they used to…

In work recently, before customers had arrived, there were a number of us picking veggies for customers. I couldn’t get my trolley near, so I abandoned it and collected as much as I could carry to take to my trolley. Someone complained about the trolleys, and quick as a flash, a colleague said it was my fault. I brandished my scanner at her, stating I’d left it there because I couldn’t get any closer, and laughingly told her to back off. A young colleague said: wow, go Fran, and she was laughing too. Much hilarity ensued and it made for a nice start to the day.

Finally, my son has been making me laugh for the past 25 years. Initially as a baby who showed signs of having a temper at barely 24 hours old; the doctor was checking his hips and he didn’t like it one little bit; his little fists were clenched, and he practically growled his displeasure. As a toddler who couldn’t pronounce ‘lobster’ – they were on a t-shirt. As a teenager showing the first signs of his wry, and sometimes weird, sense of humour. And now as a young man who is quite ‘out there’ sometimes. He doesn’t just think outside the box, he stomped on the box and threw it away. I love his sense of humour and the fact that he can still make me laugh.

Fun times…