Of Snipe, Sky Hooks, and Cow Tipping

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As January ends and a temporary spring blossoms in south Georgia, somehow my thoughts turned to some humorous situations. Maybe it’s because bees are humming already around cherry blossoms or because I saw a butterfly flitting between bushes, as if they have no idea winter may return next week. Anyway, as I walked my half mile yesterday I started thinking about catching snipe, hoisting a skyhook, and even cow tipping.

There are several ways to catch snipe, I believe. The method I was introduced to one dark night sticks with me today.

Two older brothers invited my sister and me to go snipe hunting. We were always eager to have an adventure with our brothers and probably trusted them more than we should have. We grew up on a wildlife sanctuary and no one was allowed by my dad to hunt anything unless it was bullfrogs or possums. But the boys assured us we would catch the snipe alive, then release them, as we did lizards and butterflies.

We followed instructions carefully. Opening a burlap bag wide and holding it next to the ground in a dry gully we waited with hearts racing for the boys to scare the snipe from somewhere farther up the gully. The snipe, they said, would come rushing down and we must be ready for them. We waited and waited.
Finally we heard the raucous laughter of our brothers who crashed through the bushes hooting and hollering that there is no such thing as snipe. I felt I had turned the joke on them later when I showed them in the dictionary the definition of the word snipe. It really was a bird, but not one to rush down dry gullies into an open burlap bag. The boys were not impressed with my dictionary find.

I learned about sky hooks without embarrassing myself. I heard my husband talk to young people who worked for him. If some job seemed impossible, he’d say cheerfully, “Guess we’re going to have to use a sky hook.” Some caught on pretty quickly, others scratched their heads and looked up in confusion. I had a mental picture of a skyhook firmly attached to a big cloud.

Instructions for cow tipping are pretty simple. Head out to a pasture when the moon is right (whatever that is), find a cow standing alone, touch her on her side, just a light touch, and watch her tip over broadside. It would be wise to know the difference between a cow and a bull, to know the owner of the cow is not easily disturbed, and be dressed for a chase in the event the cow runs after you instead of keeling over.

There’s a time for humorous pranks if you know the target of your joke can take it. It’s good when everyone involved can enjoy a good laugh. Like the time my little daughter asked how she could catch a bluejay. I told her what my mother had told me. Put some salt on the bird’s tail and then you can pick him up easily. She tried for at least five minutes to sneak up on that bird and salt its tail. Finally she exclaimed with dawning understanding, “Oh, Mom!”

It is a good and healthy thing to be able to laugh at oneself. Remember Sarah laughing after the Lord told her she would have a son when she was ninety? She said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” (Genesis 21:6) But God was not playing a practical joke on Sarah. She really did have that baby and named him Isaac which means laughter.

But then there are times when laughter of any kind is just not appropriate. Solomon in Ecclesiastes writes: “Like the crackling of thorns under the pot is the laughter of fools.”

I think we should temper our practical jokes with kindness. And be courageous. Because he who plays practical jokes may also be tricked in return.

I’m taking a cue from the bees, the butterfly, and the cherry blossoms as well as the crows circling noisily above, that it’s a good idea to laugh today because winter may change it all tomorrow.