“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.”

— Dr. Seuss

…the trick is being able to see them AND actually laugh about them, even when they don’t seem so funny at the time.

Five hours in a parking lot, waiting for a ferry isn’t funny.

Or is it?

A few weekends ago my husband and I took a trip to the San Juan Islands.  We had four precious days free from phone calls, laundry, deadlines, dishes, yard work, etc…so we really wanted to make the most of our time.  Day one was a travel day.  Day four was a travel day.  Days two and three were supposed to be packed full of fun, exploration and adventure.

Day two wasn’t.

Instead of taking the ferry and arriving on Orcas Island mid-morning, we missed the ferry by three cars.  THREE CARS!!!  We were there an hour and a half early and we missed it.  The next ferry didn’t leave for three hours.  BUM.MER.

We had already sat in the rental car for two hours, so at the risk of our joints forgetting they are designed to bend, move and rotate, we got out of the vehicle.  The parking lot sloped down to the ocean and we decided to take a walk.  We stopped for a few pictures.

We discovered a bike path and followed it until a sign said, “End of the trail.”  Large, oceanside rocks became our concrete sofas while we sat and talked.  Then we started to get the giggles.  Soon, it was an all out laugh fest.  Everything seemed funny.  And pretty soon, we had laughed away three hours.

On the way back to the parking lot, we stopped for a picture.  I set the camera timer and as I ran back to pose, Tim stole a kiss.  That made us laugh even more.

Milton Berle said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.”  I think that just might be true.

It was disappointing to spend the day waiting for the ferry rather than exploring Orcas Island – that was not the original plan.  But as I look back on that day, I think about laughing.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  It felt good.  Laughter seems like one of the first things to go when life gets hectic, stressful and busy.

Regardless of how we chose to spend the time -whether pouting, complaining, whining or accepting, giggling and joking – the ferry came and we made it to the island.  The outcome would have been the same regardless.  But not the journey.

So…when appropriate and when necessary…laugh.

“Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 at 3:33 am and is filed under BillionClicks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.