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National Humor Month

Questioning the need for an April designation

Recently, I read where April is designated as “National Humor Month.” Further study revealed that science has verified the curative power of humor to relieve stress. It also boosts morale, enriches quality of life and results in better well being. Therefore, the overall purpose of the designation is to heighten public awareness of the therapeutic value of humor. What's more, when one considers that the first day of the month is April Fools’ Day, the designation seems entirely appropriate.

However, having been blessed to grow up in a less-than-dour (loony) family, I question the need to dedicate a particular month in which to be comical. I can’t point to a calendar date when I was young and say that’s when it all began. But I do know that in our house, comedy was prevalent the year-round for so long as I can remember. We just reckoned that, as often as possible, life was supposed to be fun. Even when I was too little to know what was going on, I’d sometimes laugh hard enough to spit up my Gerber’s crushed pears, just because everybody else was laughing.

As a case in point, on occasion during supper, my father would spontaneously spring from his chair and run laps around the dining room table. Like a man possessed, the old boy would repeatedly circle his stunned wife and two boys while hooting deliriously all the time. Then, just as suddenly as the screwy spectacle had begun, Pop would sit down again and carry on with his meal as though nothing had happened.

At any rate, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree because, before long, I began to jump up and follow him on his trips of temporary insanity. Fortunately, my brother was equally daft; otherwise he would have had to put himself up for adoption. The three of us, circling the table simultaneously made for an attention-grabbing sight to say the least.

At such times, our mother would bury her head in her hands and woefully question what she had signed up for. Thankfully, she came from a more normal (civilized) background. If not for Mother’s refining efforts, who knows, my brother and I might have grown up to be even more harebrained than we did. One thing for sure, we were seldom boring.

Even today, that early emphasis on pursuing humor in everyday life, regardless of the circumstances, is paying dividends. For instance this morning, after having already endured six consecutive months of winter weather, I exited my house only to be greeted by a frigid, gale-force wind. Rather than complain, like the guy in the TV commercial who laughs hysterically while repeatedly bashing his head into a board, I flung my jacket open to better confront the wind. I was still making fun of its paltry strength when a gust blew me over the handrail.

Similarly, it takes a special kind of happy jack to envision shoveling a foot of heavy, wet snow as a comical endeavor. Nonetheless, I stayed true to my upbringing. I made it a point to toss every shovel full of snow directly into the wind (thereby filling in what I had just shoveled out), while belting out a rousing rendition of—“I Did It My Way!”

Ultimately, I have to admit that a sense of humor is vital to surviving April in Montana. Nevertheless, I’ll continue striving to be less-than-dour year round. After all this time, it’s hard to break old habits.

© Art Kehler

Art lives in Harrison, Montana. His essays, stories, and poetry have been published in newspapers, journals, literary magazines, and on-line magazines.

 

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