LAFOLOT

CHUCKLING WITH THE DUCKS!
September 15, 2009

Due to having had a highly stressful past week, I decided to do something healthy for myself. I drove 6 miles to the quaint rural town of Boiling Springs, PA to ‘take a nature moment’. [I ended up having a casual LAUGHTER session with the CHUCKLING, CHATTERING, HONKING, HEH HEH HEHing DUCKS as I released my stress and communed with nature.]

My destination: Boiling Springs Children’s Lake
This is a beautiful, pristine lake made by the BUBBLING waters from a natural, Artesian Well!
There are stone steps at various areas, leading to the water. There is a path all around the lake. It’s beautiful! It is home to a variety of Mallard Ducks, White Geese with Bright Orange beaks, Brown Geese, and some swans!

I made sure to wear my bug spray, due to the swarms of mosquitoes in our area.
My intention was to have a peaceful, meditative time, communing with nature.

I STEALTHILY walked across the grass towards the first stone step area I saw, leading down to the water.
There was a group of Mallard Ducks ‘just hanging out’ along the grass near the stone wall surrounding the lake. I didn’t want to disturb them…. So sloooowwwwwly I approached with ‘KUNG FU – GRASSHOPPER-like’ stealthiness. (is that a word? ;o) )

As I reached the top, stone step – NO FOOLING! I SWEAR! – what had someone written on the stone with black marker but: HAHAHA (one HA on top of the other in columnar form)

Just then, some of the sleeping mallard ducks started to honk/cluck??; but they sounded like they were LAUGHING! Quack quack quack! Heh Heh Hehhhhhh!

So! Taking the synchronistic message from the Universe – HA HA HELEN sat on the HA HA HA STEP!

My stealth walking worked! I hadn’t disturbed the Mallard ducks nestled to the right of me, on the grass! *pfew!

Some Mallard ducks were in the lake water, just 3 steps down from where I was sitting.
I was thrilled to not have disturbed their routine.

There were a bunch of Geese, farther out in the lake, HONKING HONKING HONKING –

The longer I sat there, the more the natural movement of the FOWL FRIENDS continued around me.

At one point – 7 White Geese and two – inter-FOWL geese (1/2 white ½ brown) – there’s no prejudice in this community! – swam towards me. Then, they went to an area to my left where they could walk out of the lake onto the grass. It was so wonderful, I guess the lead/guard goose came over to ‘check me out’ for safety sake. I remained still. Then they happily went around, finding food items in the grass/dirt.

Having gotten past my bug phobia a year ago – now being in appreciation of all life – a bee started to fly around my hand. I sat still, THRILLED that I could accept it. It lightly flew around my hand and graced me with a soft kiss of its furry body. I had to SMILE – having allowed myself to have this peaceful interaction with this industrious insect.

Then came the loud, boisterous geese from the far end of the lake. It was great! They were flapping their wings with vigor – flying about 15 feet as their webbed feet skimmed the water – then they would THRUST themselves INTO the water – SWIM 15 FEET UNDER WATER! – and pop up out of the water! I had never seen this before! It seemed to be the larger geese that were doing this – possibly strengthening their wings, getting ready to fly South? The smaller geese seemed to be staying out of it. So, I thought it might be a way of showing their strength? Either way, it was a joy to behold!

Later, the large, white, orange billed geese PLOPPED one by one, off the stone wall, back into the lake.

Then, two Mallard ducks swam towards where I was sitting. It was like one of them was CHATTERING with the other one, telling a story. It was making this very fast CHATTERING sound as if it was LAUGHING as it was telling a story to its friend! I LAUGHED OUT LOUD when I heard it!

So, I had a casual LAUGHTER session with the CHUCKLING, CHATTERING, HONKING, HEH HEH HEHing DUCKS as I released my stress and communed with nature.

It was a HA HA HAPPY TIME!
HA HA HELEN OF LAFOLOT
LIVING IN THE MOMENT…
LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN!

[this blog can also be read at the Vibrant Nation site under blogger name: Helenoflafolot]

So – I pulled myself out of couch-potato mode – following my instinct, and headed for the City of Harrisburg’s Kipona-Arts Fest Susquehanna Riverfront Fest!

I dressed appropriately:

1 Tinsel-Deely Bobber Headband – CHECK!
1 ‘I Love to LAFOLOT’ Live Life! Laugh Often! T-Shirt – CHECK!
1 ‘Live Life! Laugh Often!’ canvas bag to carry – loaded with Giveaway Goodies! – CHECK!
1 SMILE planted on my face – CHECK!

It was my intention to ‘go with the flow’ and see what wonderful adventures I would experience.

I had lunch at my favorite Indian restaurant along the riverfront: Passage To India – wearing my tinsel deely-bobber headband while having lunch. *tee hee

Then – out to my car – parked in the lot along the riverfront – to prepare my walk UP THROUGH THE CROWD.

I remember thinking, ‘what an interesting AQUA – COLORED car had parked next to mine. Wouldn’t one of my LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN! Magnetic Bumper Displays look nice on the back of that car! *grin [Note: My car has my LAFOLOT magnet displal on the side - for advertising.]

So – I started to walk towards the River-fest… only to find they were charging for entrance! I didn’t have cash and didn’t want to walk through the Arts Fest part, anyway. I was told if I walked 3 blocks, I would get to the Kipona FREE Part – so I got my exercise for the day!

When I got to the FREE part, I started talking and mingling with folks as I went through the crowd. Greeting little doggies, SMILING my way through the crowd.

I stopped and stood next to a Harrisburg Firefighter who was holding a fireman’s boot and announcing: FILL THE BOOT! I told him I’d stand next to him with my TINSEL headband and see if I could help him get more donations for his cause. ;o) I stood there announcing: FILL THE BOOT! (I didn’t seem to draw anyone… so I moved on)

HERE’S THE MAGICAL MOMENT!!

I came across a mini set of bleachers with about 20 people sitting and waiting for a stage show at the BOB FM Radio stage. WHAT LUCK! IT WAS A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE!

I stopped, and announced: WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO PUT ON A SHOW WHILE YOU WAIT? Some of them said yes – so I gave them a big theatre BOW. ;o)

Then – I told them I was a LAUGHTER LEADER – I said: would you like me to get you to do some healthy laughter?

…none of them had tried to run, yet! *grin

I announced: HOW DO YOU SAY HELLO IN HAWAIIAN? One gentleman said meekly: Aloha
I asked them what it ended with? They said: HA! I said, ‘THERE YA GO! YOU’RE LAUGHING ALREADY! OK, NOW LET’S HOLLER OUT ALOHA AND KEEP LAUGHING AFTER WE REACH THE HA!

*SMILE….
They did it with me! SUCCESS!!! *tee hee ;o)

Just then, a woman in the front row said in excitement: ‘I’M GOING TO BE SPEAKING AT THE SAME EVENT AS YOU!’ I pulled out a flyer I had in my ‘bag of goodies’ for the:

http://www.women-connect.com WOMEN CONNECT – ‘KEYS TO CONNECTING’ Retreat Scheduled for the weekend of: September 25-26, 2009 [go to this site, click on the retreat info. and download the FLYER to see my Picture and Name on the flyer as a scheduled speaker! I'm in the big time, now!] The other speaker’s name is Mikell Worley.

I said to the crowd: YES! I’LL BE PRESENTING A LAUGHTER WELLNESS PROGRAM – LOOK! I HAVE THE BROCHURE! AND…. I SAID: HERE’S ANOTHER FAMOUS PERSON IN THE FRONT ROW WHO IS ALSO SCHEDULED TO SPEAK!!

Magical! What were the odds – with the large crowd along Riverfront Park – that I’d run into one of the other presenters, whom I had never met before!

She said: ‘You know, I parked my car next to yours and WONDERED if I’d run into you!”

KARMA!! PSYCHIC CONNECTION? I don’t know. UNCANNY!

So I still had a captive audience. I said: Wow! Did you all think you’d run into two famous women when you came here today? *grin

I gave out a few ‘Stress Reliever Pinwheels’, ‘Smile Face Bookmarks’ and 2 Magnetic bumper displays to folks in the crowd. I also told them about my website: www.lafolot.com and my once-a-month laughter club.

Besides the ALOHA laugh, I got them to do the vowel-sounds laugh exercise with me!

Then, the real performer, a country singer playing a guitar came on stage, so I sat down and took off my deely bobber headband so as not to block their view.

WOW! What a magical moment! To PARK next to and RUN INTO a fellow women’s retreat speaker and get such a golden opportunity of a captive, receptive audience!

JUST GOTTA LAUGH AT THE SYNCHRONICITY OF IT ALL!

p.s. on the way back to my car, I continued to wear a BIG SMILE and my tinsel-headband. I passed a group of young-Hispanic males. I chose to keep the smile going and release any fear. One of them hollered out: ‘LINDA!’ [beautiful, in Spanish]
Well! For whatever it’s worth – a smile makes everyone beautiful! I accepted the compliment with grace.

HA HA Helen of Lafolot
Living Life in Amazement!
Live Life! Laugh Often!
www.laugholot.com