Art by Norma Jean Zahner
Today’s world is befrazzling. Thank God for the mountains.
They give us breath, a recharge, an MDR of wonderment, and best of all, a comfy log under a tree to sit upon where there’s a whole lot of funny to enjoy.
If we tune in to what’s around us, we’ll zoom into a full-body laugh. Start by slowing down. Spend time watching live TV in your backyard or meadow or forest. Feel those tingles in your toes. Let them vibrate up your bones and explode in a gut-guffaw so satisfying, it registers on laugh-mo-graphs world-round.
The North Carolina mountains are a glorious place to let loose infectious chuckles. Laughing’s good for your health, physically and mentally. There’s scientific evidence that people living in mountain areas have increased happiness, improved well-being and attention, lower stress, better moods, and higher empathy. All that is linked to the joy and beauty that Nature stirs in us.
Things are just happier and Life funnier here.
Sure, there are wonderful things to eat, drink and be merry about on the Plateau, but the foundation of fun is elevated laughter, Mother Nature’s finest gift.
Watch an otter, a four-legged, natural-born comedian; a stoat bouncing in the snow; fledglings, bigger than their parents, still begging for grubs. Chipmunks stuffing two more walnuts into bulging cheeks.
How about North Carolina’s only marsupial, a mother o’possum, hauling a passel of adorable possum pups on her back? How about the two-leggers spending a morning untangling trout tackle? Entertainment and giggles, everywhere. People laughing at critters. Critters laughing at people.
Mother Nature’s daily meds are easy to swallow, just: Look more, Love more, Laugh more. Before you know it, befrazzling begone!
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