I think God gave us the ability to laugh, a gift we should all enjoy. Laughter is such a wonderful stress reliever. Laughter helps us battle anxiety and worry. And its so much fun to really have a good laugh. And the best thing about laughter is it’s free and it’s catching. Job 8:21 reads, “He will fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.” In Proverbs 17:22 we read, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” A joyful heart with laughter can lift your spirits in so many ways. Charlie Chaplin said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

God must have a sense of humor. Look at some of the earth’s creatures, the kangaroos and the platypuses, the naked mole rats, the giraffes, and the aye-ayes. He must have chuckled and smiled as he brought them to life. I read where a smile is the touching of souls and by smiling at someone you shine into them. I like to think of smiles as sunshine rays warming someone’s heart. Pablo Neruda says, “Laughter is the language of the soul.”

Took oldest sister to her cataract doctor today in LaGrange. We always enjoy our trips and usually some dumb thing will happen and send us into peals of laughter. I sat in the car while she had her appointment. We parked under a big oak tree and I bird watched and people watched. Hard to believe what some people wear out in public! Enjoyed watching them park, too. The world is full of impatient people, mad at the world because they are miserable and want everyone else to be miserable, too. Little old man in a crayon red Kia was trying to parallel park in the handicap parking and everybody was impatient and honking their horns at him. His little skinny wife got out, helped direct the car as he squeezed it in the parking place. She called him “Baby” and said, “I knew you could do it!” She got his wheelchair out, helped him get seated in it, and off they went with a squeaky wheel wheelchair to their doctor appointment.

When we left the doctor’s office we went to get a treat at Dairy Queen. Not going to the dentist till next week, unless they have a cancellation, so I just got a small drink, but sister-in-law wanted a Blizzard, large size. We get up to the window, remember now, we’re at Dairy Queen, and I say, “I want a large M and M McFlurry and a small Coke.” The worker says, “Can you drive up a little?” I sneak closer to the truck in front of me and give the order again. And he says, “This ain’t McDonalds. We don’t have flurries!” I said in my sweet “kiss my grits” voice, “I’m so sorry I meant a M and M Blizzard.” We got tickled then and it was downhill. We were still chuckling when we got to the pick up window. We got our order and oldest sister-in-law was depressed because a large was so small! Could not but help remember our escapade last year with the Grandma McFlurry!

Last year I wrote — “On the way home from LaGrange we see McDonald’s has a Grandma McFlurry! No self-respecting grandmother could pass that up so we get in the drive through line and wait forever to place our order. We ask what’s in the Grandma McFlurry and the lady says grouchily, “Well, I don’t know…wait let me see. Okay…ice cream with caramel syrup and little crunchies like butterfinger candy.” We had heard enough, sounded delicious, then she says, “You can get chocolate or butterscotch syrup on top.” So I say, “Butterscotch for me and chocolate for her.” Then we get to grouch number two at the pick-up window. “Y’all sure you want two squirts of butterscotch and chocolate. It’s really sweet. They let us taste a little when we started selling them. You better be sure before I take time to make it. It is really sweet!” Oldest-sister-in-law kept interrupting with, “We like sweet, we want two squirts.” Anyway we get the flurries and in my sweetest “kiss my grits” voice I profusely thank her for my two squirts of butterscotch. Oldest sister-in-law is smiling. She’s happy with her two squirts of chocolate syrup. And it was so good!!! And I know why! The Grandma McFlurry has 600 calories and 86 grams of sugar. My bad…won’t eat another one! Could have had a miniature Snickers’ blizzard at Dairy Queen for 370 calories!”

I don’t know how I got addicted to watching the sunset each day. I just love perching in the swing after supper anticipating the color scheme of Mother Nature’s watercolors and she never disappoints. She paints a masterpiece for God’s eyes only and shares her paintings with us when the clouds don’t cover her canvas. Today the sun was dressed in blushing peach surrounded by pale pink champagne clouds, a beautiful feast for the eyes.

Our lives can be so hectic in the modern world and a glimpse of a wondrous sunset can give pause to our lives as we watch the sky changing colors. The classic beauty of the sunset encourages us to be grateful for the simple wonders of nature and the mysteries of life. You cannot watch the sunset and not feel the presence of God in the heavens.

“Once you have tasted the sky, you will forever look up,” Leonardo da Vinci.