Family Living
Focus
By
Adams Co. Extension
Agent
Nina Redding
THE MAGIC OF
LAUGHTER
I enjoy telling funny stories and
playing tricks on others. There’s
nothing better than a good laugh.
But sometimes, the laugh is on
me!
Let me tell you a little story. In
July 1992, Russell and I wewnt on
a horse back camping trip into the
wilderness in southern Montana.
We didn’t know any of the other
15 people on the trip.
After a day on the trail, we
reached our base camp and supper
time finally came. The camp cook
enjoyed telling us about the old
sheep herders who used to use this
spot as a camp years ago. Legend
has it that the herders always had a
pot of stew going on the stove.
Each day they would add a little
more water and meat. During the
months they were in the moun
tains. one of them lost his false
teeth in the stew pot and they nev
er realized it until they emptied the
kettle when snowfall came. Now,
years later, the old choppers are
like a ghost in camp, they appear
and disappear. I never gave the
story another thought after it was
told.
The second morning in camp, it
seemed that everyone was coming
to breakfast at the same time.
“Only the best will stand the test of time”
illllH [ ias .. the .
leading edge
■ 6-edge triangular . Great sek jpMp
knives of mode,
A
VA
When I thought about it later, this
was highly unusual because the
day before, they really straggled
in. When Russell and I arrived at
the makeshift dining tent, the cook
and his helpers informed me that I
was very special and that they
wanted to actually serve me
breakfast
So I sat down and everyone else
quickly took their places, all of us
sitting on these skinny boxes in
which the food had been trans
ported on horseback. I was quite
impressed when they set three
pieces of delicious looking french
toast down before me. Everyone
started to eat I’m particular when
I eat french toast I don’t like it
piled on top of one another. With
my fork, I carefully began to lay
out the pieces. Suddenly when I
picked up the last piece I saw that
horrible set of dirt-looking legen
dary false teeth pressed into my
toast. As I screamed and fell back
wards off my seat the camp dogs
came running and barking to the
scene.
Everyone in camp had a great
laugh at my expense. It turned out
that the entire camp knew what
was going to happen even Rus
sell. After spending two days with
me, it seemed those strangers who
quickly became friends, knew I
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enjoyed playing tricks on others
and appreciated a good laugh on
me instead.
LAUGH FOR HEALTH
How many times have you
laughed so far today? Researchers
suggest that the average American
needs to laugh IS or more times a
day to be healthy. When we think
of mental wellness, we usually
think of stress management, hold
ing ourselves together, coping
with and enjoying life, exercise,
and nutrition. Rarely do we think
of laughter and humor as possible
ways to deal with stress and
change.
Dr. William Fry, a researcher in
the psychology of laughter at
Stanford University, says that 20
seconds of intense laughter can
quickly double the heart rate of
three to five minutes. This same
accomplishment would take three
minutes of strenuous rowing exer
cise! Studies show that muscles in
the chest, neck, abdomen, shoul
ders, face and scalp get a benefi
cial workout and that other parts
of the body are more relaxed dur
ing a laughing session.
Laughter exercises the lungs
and breathing muscles and stimu
lates the circulatory system. While
we are laughing, die chest, abdo
men, and face get a workout. The
entire cardiovascular system is
benefited by increased oxygen in
the blood. Some have called this
internal jogging. It stimulates the (
endocrine system and causes sec
retion of hormones which stimu
late your heart and breathing.
Endorphins, our natural pain kill
ers, are released. After laughter is
over (if your have laughted extra
hard) there is the feeling of turning
to rubber.
Laughter is a stress reducer.
When a person laughs, he or she
briefly loses muscles tone. All the
NEW
FEATURES!
tense muscles of the body are
relaxed.
We all experience stress, anxie
ty, and frustration. Many times we
look at things negatively. Howev-
er, we can be free from these nega
tives. We can take a bad situation
and turn it into a positive one.
That is, we can change our beliefs
or perspectives about a situation.
If you believe that the world has
been good, you would see it as
good. If you believe that the world
Herbs Can Bring Sweet
Smell Of Success
HUNTINGDON (Huntingdon
Co.) Herbs once used for
everything from stomach ache re
medies to air fresheners have
made a comeback. “Interest in
herbs has increased rapidly in the
past few years,” said Keppy Ar
noldsen, horticulture graduate stu
dent in Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences.
Last year, Amoldsen and Aime
Voisin, a senior majoring in horti
culture, completed an independent
study project growing 67 herbs in
an ornamental plot at Penn State’s
Trial Gardens. Their demonstra
tion garden provided information
used to compile a Penn Stale pub
lication entitled “Herbs for the
Home Gardener.” This 68-page
publication has 58 colored illus
trations and information on 32
herbs, including common and sci
entific names, plant characteris
tics, hardiness, size, soil prefer
ence, propagation, pests and dis
ease, bloom time, and color and
uses for the herbs.
“Many commercial growers are
finding it lucrative to sell herbs
wholesale to garden centers and
stores. There’s also a large market
cm 3 gets things rolling!
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• Anti-vibration device for
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• Choice of 2 models or 48"
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For further information, ENDLESS MOUNTAINS EQUIPMENT
contact your nearest _ , , _ „ , „. _
wic dealer or Columbia Cross Road, PA (800) 227-3486
ENDLESS MOUNTAINS EQUIPMENT CO.
PRONOVOST
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8 ton, 12 ton
□ Forage Box ■ 12 ton
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6 wheels, 12 ton 4 wheels
□ Hay rack for round bales
mounted on 12 ton dump trailer
(opbonal)
□ Rotary cutter
Cl Rolling harrows
□ Concrete mixer
WIC
□ Liquid manure spreader
□ Bedding chopper
□ Strawberry mulcher
□ Chopper blower “Blizzard*
□ Motorized Silage feeder
□ Motorized gram feeder
□ Motorized round bale feeder
□ Motorized baled hay wagon
icheck t^FroductfsTlnterested In
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For Further Information, Contact Your Nearest Dealer Or
ENDLESS MOUNTAINS EQUIPMENT CO.
Columbia Cross Road, PA.
(800) 227-3486
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 9, 1994-B5
is a negative place to live, then it
will be negative. A sense of humor
is a sense of perspective. It keeps
you from getting brittle in the face
of change.
Lighten your attitudes about
yourself and your anxieties will
become lighter, too! Remember,
laughter is contagious, as I found
out with that old set of choppers.
Don’t worry or analyze why peo
ple laugh just participate.
in dried herbs for decorations,
teas, cooking and other uses. You
can make a career out of herbs,”
said Amoldsen.
Voisin plans to do just that.
“Herbs have such unusual tex
tures, colors and scents. I got in
terested in them when I worked in
a greenhouse after graduating
from high school,” she said. “I
started buying books about herbs,
and now I’ve decided to become a
wholesaler and sell dried herb pro
ducts.
It’s one thing to read about
herbs in a book, and it’s another to
grow them,” said Voiosin. “We
had some surprises in our inde
pendent study. Some plants turned
out to be incredibly bushy and
took up three times the space we
thought they would. And I never
realized that cilantro and coriand
er arc really the same plant one
is the leaf and one is the seed.”
“Herbs for the Home Gardener”
is availabale for $8 from county
cooperative extension offices or
from the Publication Distribution
Center, 112 Agricultural Adminis
tration Building. University Park,
PA 16802.
□ Manual silage feeder
□ Manual baled hay wagon
□ Manual grain feeder
□ Sani-Cart
□ Control feed wagon
□ Roller mill
□ Hammer mill
□ Electronic Control (or roller mill
□ Electronic Control (or
hammer mill
□ Computerized system WIC-100
□ Gram augers
□ Conveyor
O Hay dryer
□ Barn ventilator
□ Barn broom
□ Electronic swing gate
□ Motors - gas
O Motors - electric
OTHER
a
a
a
Phone.