HUMOUR GARDEN

(re-post)

Excerpt from a letter discovered in my files to a sender I cannot now recall.

I'd like to suggest a Humour Garden with perhaps such things as a scarecrow bird feeder (the incongruity is not immediately obvious!);  a rocks'n'chalk section for drawing funny faces etc.;  exploration into, and possibly inclusion of, if site is suitable, plants and flowers with funny names such as vipers bugloss, lady's bedstraw, coltsfoot, horsetail, creeping Charlie, love lies bleeding, etc.; some outrageous mailbag (old boot? shirt pocket with Canada Post logo? pink flamingo's beak?) where kids could leave jokes.

In the Humour Garden could be held such things as giggling contests - see who can laugh the loudest or the longest or sound the most sincere.

I am fascinated by humour and how even pretending to laugh releases those wonderful endorphins in our body.

And trees could become a banana tree or orange tree or mango tree - the cut fruit attracts butterflies in early spring before blossoms are profuse. Maybe it would be fun to hang a peanut butter sandwich or two for the squirrels.

I have found it a wonderful experience to provide a place where one is expected to be silly. So often in life we are not encouraged to give way to natural delight.

Posted on September 10, 2004 at 07:03 AM | Permalink

Excerpt from a letter discovered in my files to a sender I cannot now recall.

I'd like to suggest a Humour Garden with perhaps such things as a scarecrow bird feeder (the incongruity is not immediately obvious!);  a rocks'n'chalk section for drawing funny faces etc.;  exploration into, and possibly inclusion of, if site is suitable, plants and flowers with funny names such as vipers bugloss, lady's bedstraw, coltsfoot, horsetail, creeping Charlie, love lies bleeding, etc.; some outrageous mailbag (old boot? shirt pocket with Canada Post logo? pink flamingo's beak?) where kids could leave jokes.

In the Humour Garden could be held such things as giggling contests - see who can laugh the loudest or the longest or sound the most sincere.

I am fascinated by humour and how even pretending to laugh releases those wonderful endorphins in our body.

And trees could become a banana tree or orange tree or mango tree - the cut fruit attracts butterflies in early spring before blossoms are profuse. Maybe it would be fun to hang a peanut butter sandwich or two for the squirrels.

I have found it a wonderful experience to provide a place where one is expected to be silly. So often in life we are not encouraged to give way to natural delight.