Once upon a time in a place far from here and close to my heart, right in the heart of New Jersey, there was a beautiful lake.  It was in the middle of a lush field of wild flowers, just on the edge of a glade of willow trees at the base of a gently sloping mountain.  In the spring that lake was one of the most beautiful sights you could imagine with all of the flowers in bloom. And in the fall when the leaves were turning, it could take your breath away.  We use to love to swim there. And fish! Some of the best eatin’ fish ever were caught right there in that lake.

Well, one November a flock of wild geese came and landed on the lake. It was the biggest flock of geese I’ve ever seen. There were so many of them, that when they landed, you could hardly see the lake for all of the geese.  Just as those geese settled down on the lake and started to fish and swim around the temperature dropped like a marble off a sky scraper. It just plummeted, and the lake froze into a solid block of ice with all the geese still in the water.  Those geese were so scared; they all just started to flap their wings like crazy. And all at once they all took off – and took the lake that was frozen around them with them.

A good friend of mine saw the whole think happen. She jumped on her motor cycle and followed those geese for miles and miles and miles.  Eventually they did land, and she tells me  that lake is somewhere in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.   Personally, I think the whole thing is just a wild goose chase! But, sometimes you just got to chase a wild goose or two, becasue you never know what you might discover. At least there will be a smile or two, some belly laughs if you are lucky and maybe even a good story!

Can you imagine working for change without laughter? Some days I think laughter is the philosophers stone that activates the alchemy of change. Some days I think laughter is the holy grail of work for social justice. Laughter IS the best medicine.

The heart and spirit of this story are borrowed from the book Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, given either one a try. You will laugh a lot and maybe cry a bit – but you’ll laugh a lot more.