Author: Pam Harris, "blind" writer

I had posted that I would write about the backstory of my newest release, Aimee, and I will do that possibly tomorrow. Or the next day. Soon.

But I’ve been looking at old pictures. And thinking. Thinking about what my life has been like and the experiences I’ve had. And wondering what other experiences await me.

The largest town I’ve ever lived in had a then-population of 35,000. The smallest town I’ve ever lived in is my current town of just under 11,000. So I guess you could say I’ve always been a small town girl.

So you can imagine how I felt when we went on our first cruise in 2008. I had no idea what to expect and was more than a little nervous. We’d been told by some people that if you didn’t gamble or drink, there wasn’t anything to do on a cruise. Wrong. We don’t do either, and we kept plenty busy. Trivia contests. Comedy shows (clean ones, not the late-night racy variety, we were already asleep at that point). Reading a good book on the deck while soaking in the sun and feeling the breeze. Free music. (Some of it funny. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard a group from the Philippines singing Beatles songs.) Enjoying a long dinner in the evening and getting to know our table mates. Shore excursions. Playing putt-putt on the nine-hole course on the top deck of the ship. For me: walking on a treadmill in the fitness center while watching the sea in front of me as the ship moved along.

But, boy, were we green. Everything was a new experience. We missed the formal dinner the first night because we weren’t sure what to do. The first time I flushed the toilet in our room, I thought I’d done something wrong. (If you’ve cruised before, you know what I’m talking about.) I wasn’t sure how to dress. I learned that “formal” wasn’t really that formal.

I continue to have experiences that are new, some pleasant and some not-so-pleasant. Sometimes I feel like the proverbial fish-out-of-water. Hey, is that a proverb or just an old saying? Anyway, sometimes I feel out of my element. One particular incident comes to mind. No, not an incident. A weekend.

A few weeks ago, Barry and I went to our son’s to dog-sit while he and his wife were on a weekend trip. He lives in Memphis.

First mistake: I didn’t shut the bedroom door that first night and their huge dog that is still very much a puppy went downstairs while we slept and attacked a cushion on their very nice couch. I woke up in the middle of the night, ran downstairs, and found the white stuffing all over the floor. Scolded the dog, cleaned up the mess, and went back upstairs. This time I shut the door so Mowgli couldn’t get out.

Second mistake: I set off the ADT alarm the next morning when we left the house.  Barry had pulled the car out of the garage and lowered the door, then exited the house through the side door. While waiting for him, I accidentally hit the garage door opener. The garage door went up a foot, and I hit it to go back down. I didn’t know it had set the alarm off. I’m not used to alarm systems. When my son called me from Chicago telling me he’d received a call from the security company and that the police were at the house — and we were 20 minutes away at this point — I wanted to cry. The alarm had been going off all that time. Mowgli was in his kennel, probably scared to death by the noise. Thinking of that, I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me.

Third mistake: On our last day, I stripped the bed and washed their very nice sheets. I know they’re very nice because I bought them for them. I used their washer, which is very different from mine. After drying the sheets and putting them back on the bed, I saw that the laundry detergent had bleached out some spots on their very nice pillow cases. I had obviously not dissolved the detergent right. Once again, earth please open up and swallow me.

My son and his wife were very gracious about all of this, but I wouldn’t blame them if they never want us to dog-sit or house-sit for them again. Well, never want me. Barry didn’t make any blunders.

But maybe they will. After all, I was an experienced cruiser when we went on our second cruise in 2010. And the next time I go to the big city, I guarantee I’ll be more careful. About everything. I hope.

The fun is about to begin! (Teachers who read this are saying, “What???”)

Seriously, funny things happen at school. Kids say funny things. Teachers do and say funny things. Nothing wrong with that. We need more laughter at school. We need more laughter in life.

Years ago, when I was teaching high school French, we had a lesson involving animals. The textbook had a picture of the animals with the French words underneath each one and a bubble with the animal sound. You know, how we depict a dog as saying “Bow wow” or “Arf.” One student raised his/her hand (trying to protect the student’s identity) and asked, “Do animals in France make the same sounds as animals here?”

Or the time I was teaching and a student raised her hand. “Mrs. Harris, did you know you have two different shoes on?” I looked down. Yep, sure enough. One black flat with a pointed toe and one black flat with a rounded toe.

When a principal I once worked with made announcements, he occasionally said something that cracked all of us up. Not on purpose. It’s just what he did, the way he said it. And we loved it. It started our day with a good laugh.

At in-service last year, our principal brought in a magician of sorts who also had an important message, designed to encourage us and get our batteries recharged for the school year. It may have been one of the best in-service sessions I have ever attended. I left that session relaxed, having laughed until I cried, and inspired because of the man’s message at the end.

I encourage my fellow teachers — along with myself — to laugh more. Laugh more with our co-workers. Laugh more in the classroom. Find the humor when you can. Don’t stress over the small stuff. Don’t take yourself or your situation too seriously.

Laughter truly is the best medicine!

Teacher humor photos found on Pintrest.