Warmer than usual temperatures greeted skiers who took part in the 6th Annual Bodefest at Cannon Mountain in Franconia on Saturday, April 3, 2010. (Concord Monitor Photo/Max Bittle)

 Jayden Stublos, 9, reacts to a face full of snow as he holds strong against two older Danbury boys in a snowball fight. His brother, Morgan Stubbs, 13, sits in a snow bank in front of friend Kendall Hoy, 12. The kids enjoy one last snowball fight as their families pack up to leave the Winter Festival at Independence Park in Danbury, Nh, on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. (Concord Monitor photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

Ben Copp catches some air as he takes jumps during Rave X demonstrations. Spectators and participants enjoyed the Sno Bowl at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 20, 2010. (Concord Monitor Photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

A preschooler from the Early Head Start program in Concord spills her milk while on a field trip to the Windmill restaurant to learn to make pizza and tzatziki sauce on Thursday, February 11, 2010.  "Everyone makes mistakes, we'll just clean it right up!", said Vanessa Pride, the preschool teacher. (Concord Monitor photo/Katie Barnes)  

The annual equestrian ski joring races were held in downtown New London on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010.

Students at the Shaker Road School participate in a dance-a-thon to raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. (Concord Monitor photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

A good laugh is good for what ails you, even if it's only for that moment that you are laughing. 

A coworker recently gave me a gag gift and convinced me I should bring it in to work to share.  It is a pen shaped like a finger and when you pull on it, it creates sounds similar to flatulence.  I work in a doctors office where outright laughter is usually greeted by a manager's stern glance and a remark about having better things to do with our time.  It's not that they don't want us to be cheerful, but they feel such gathering and laughing leaves the illusion of not caring especially when sick people are awaiting care. Idle chit chat and laughter amongst ourselves is kept to a minimum.  The pen was a different story. 

An ice skater casts a long shadow during the Winter Carnival at White Park on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010. To see more photos from the Winter Carnival click here.

People know I like to write. They are usually shocked to find out that I am nearly as terrible at spelling as I am at math. The fact is that being able to write well doesn’t mean one can spell well, or even that we are good with grammar. Editors are the ones who are good at that stuff. I just like to put my thoughts down on paper. I always have, whether it was writing letters to pen pals, writing in my diary or writing papers for class. Writing for me is about finding peace within myself, not about the proper use of punctuation and sentence structure.