A Time to Laugh

by Michele Boy | October 26, 2023

My view today, Wednesday, is beautiful - cool, leaves changing color,  mums and pumpkins in my front yard. 
I am not quite ready for single digit temperatures except perhaps it will kill the flies!
  Just for fun we bought two skeletons that play instruments.
They have hats and capes. Their eyes light up. They even dance a little. And they are on our front yard with the mums, pumpkins and color changing leaves.    
  The skeletons are motion activated. So they are generally dancing and playing music after someone drives by.  I joke they are the shyest jazz band around. 
  I am not really a Halloween person. Not  for religious reasons or anything else. I am just not a horror or gore fan.  But these skeletons with their hats and instruments remind me of my trip to New Orleans with jazz bands, beignets, and friends. They make me smile. 
  But as people drive by our home, they might see something different. 
They could be offended. I thought about it as I made the decision whether to purchase or not. 
I decided it was time to laugh. The skeletons make me happy. The purchase was for me and my family. 
 As the jazz music plays it makes my family smile. 
In this day and age with everyone quickly offended, 
I think we need to slow down a little and remember people have different perspectives, some of which aren’t our business. .
  Where I am on this journey right now is a neverending list of things to do. It’s non stop go, go, go. And sometimes I just need to unwind. My skeletons help me to do that. 
  What helps you laugh? Smile? Relax?
A long vacation? Perhaps. But right now that doesn’t look like it’s in the cards.  
  As the temps drop and we experience a week of spring, summer, winter, and fall, the change of seasons is fast and furious. 
 I think of the bible verse that says there is a time for everything. There is a time to laugh. 
 Ecclesiastes 3:4 says , “A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.”
  I read somewhere the greatest addiction isn’t drugs, it’s fear. Turn on the news. Fear is everywhere. People inside safe rooms as bombs drop. Fear can destroy us if we let it. 
  So let me ask again, when was the laugh time you laughed so hard you cried? You smiled for the fun of it? You let loose?
Maybe this is your sign.