No matter how many times during a 24 hour period, day or at night (yes, even when I'm awoken from sleeping and my thoughts are racing), if it's funny to me, I best write it down right then, just the crux of it... for example, "man leaving his father's grave site, shovel over shoulder, planting tree, I start to laugh harkening back to when I had dug the hole for the new tree, at the 20" depth I'd stick my head in the hole and yell; "bet you'd of loved being able to think outside the box way back when, eh? or... "HEY! Can you hear me now?".... or I'd probably forget it.
And once written down, as one comedian/story teller/speaker friend of mine confessed, now, once a week, minimum, you have to expand and write that thought into a joke, a story, or into a talk, or a quip to open or close your talk.
So... in my semi-perpetually-tired-state, not to be confused with a semi-retired state, I have been making formal steps in transitioning from an HVACR mechanic, contractor, College Professor into a writer, speaker, story teller, and comedian.
I'm currently writing a pitch for Netflix based on my trips pre-during-post Covid-19 to my Father's grave to talk with him, clean up his grave, plant a tree, to all out, let's take care of the 60 flat stone grave stones in the immediate area of my Dad's grave, to trimming shrubs, cutting the grass, weekly, weeding, and polishing the grave stones.
And now... I'm moving on to locate my Father's Father (My Grandfather Archer), my Father's Mother (My Grandmother Archer), and once located, clean and care for those graves as well.
In the end, make a video of where they are, who they were for my family members, so they know parts of their heritage and to hopefully carry on this... tradition.
Failing that, the Archer family tree, at least this branch of the tree, which has roots in Mississauga, Streetsville, and a major root in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada looks... well... DEAD.
And... is it funny? Well, I believe it is. I mean, does suspicion arise when you see someone carrying a shovel into and out of a cemetery? Sounds like the opening to a fabulous joke to me.
Stay tuned for more, Dead or Alive, tales from the Cemetery.
And... take care of your family. All it takes is, a beating heart.
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