Category Archives: #laughter

Johnnie

As the wind flows from one place to the next,
And no one knows where it came from or where it goes,
So were the puns of Johnnie.

Corny to be sure, but also profound,
Sometimes they made you scratch your head,
But there was no denying their ability to make you smile.

Like, “How do you make an egg roll?”
And after moments of reflection,
Johnnie responded with, “You push it.”

Or, “What did the Baby Corn say to the Mama Corn?”
And you thought, “Ear’s to you, Mama,”
But Johnnie flashed you a grin and said, “Where’s Pop Corn?”

So you wondered, “Where does he get these corny jokes?”
Even corny jokes about Baby Corn, Mama Corn, and Pop Corn,
But there was no use trying to find the sources.

Johnnie had endless connections, it seemed,
Every relative, every friend, every client,
Fed him those corny jokes.

He had an endless supply, so we did not fear,
If you needed a chuckle or two or three,
You went looking for the Corny Joke Man.

So one last corny joke to honor the Corny Joke Bloke,
“What did the pony say when it had a sore throat?”
He apologized and said, “I am a little horse!”

But you thought that was all, the joke’s on you,
For there’s never one last corny joke,
Johnnie’s plan was to make you laugh to eternity.

“What did the mayonnaise say when someone opened the refrigerator door?”
“Close the door I’m dressing!”
Ha Ha! Got you again! You didn’t see that one coming did you!

Are you tired of corny jokes?
How absurd!
That’s like saying that you’re tired of being on vacation!

“Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon?”
“It has great food but no atmosphere.”
Woo hoo! – you weren’t expecting that one, were you!

Are you ready to say, “Uncle”? … Do you your ribs hurt yet?
Only when Johnnie saw you on the ground,
Did the parade of corny jokes end.

Chuckle and chuckle and chuckle some more,
Oh I miss those days with Johnnie and his fresh new jokes,
But I’m laughing to eternity with the ones he’s already shared.

I miss you, Sweet Friend, until we meet in heaven,
And I’m looking forward to hearing,
The best new corny jokes you know.

Laughter

A fun bunch of people gathered last night at Mestizo, and we took turns practicing Spanish by building a sentence that included an infinitive verb form together with the name of a fellow participant. Of course, the weekly exercise is just something to do during a lull in the conversation, and last night we gabbed so much that the list of Spanish verbs only made its way around the circle 2 times.

I seem to do a lot of laughing in our Tuesday night group. Sometimes I laugh at myself for the way I whip comments together after pulling Spanish words out my head, kind of a Spanish gumbo soup, hoping that I make sense. (The confused looks of others, combined with silence, generally means I need to take another stab at articulating what I want to say). Other times I laugh with others at their antics. And sometimes I laugh just because I enjoy learning Spanish, feeling fortunate to have found this new path only after the first 48 years of my life.

I hope that you, Dear Reader, enjoy laughing often and heartedly. Laughter truly is an elixir, one of life’s most precious gifts. Not that we should ignore the harsh realities of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who experience hardship as I write. We feel their pain, and we feel our own pain when we’ve been given a hard row to hoe. But we also seek to lift ourselves and those that are around us by refusing to let anyone, or anything, take away our joy. Laughter helps sustain joy, so may you laugh today … and even better, may you help someone else laugh today.

Okay, I got a little philosophical there at the end – but keep laughing!!!