HUMOR

humors

"It's harder to have fun when you're older. There are too many young people telling you it's not good for you." *

EARLY-DAY ARIZONA

TOMMY: "When I'm a man, I'm going to be a soldier."

MOTHER: "What, and be killed by the enemy?"

TOMMY: (after thinking) "Oh, well. Then I guess I'll be the enemy."

Unusual Perspective

There are 16 species of hummingbirds in Arizona. Sixteen different species of hummers. You'd think one of them could have learned the words by now.

HORSE SENSE

A small boy who was visiting a ranch asked a cowboy what would happen if his horse got sick. "I'd call the veterinarian," the wrangler answered. "Do you know what that word means?" "Sure," the boy replied. "A vet is a doctor who makes horse calls."

LOST AND FOUND

This winter our family spent a delightful day with my dad exploring the desert east of Florence. Our goal was to locate old mining claims he had worked on when he was a young man. After we came home, my 5-year-old daughter ran to play next door. It wasn't long before our neighbor called. Our daughter told her we hadspent the day in the desert helping her grandpa look for his mind.

Grand Canyon

We had asked readers to submit Grand Canyon anecdotes. Here's a smattering of your replies:

SPELUNKING

While I was student-teaching a fourth-grade class in Sierra Vista and discussing recreational opportunities in the Grand Canyon, one boy offered the idea of spelunking at the Canyon. Curious to learn his concept of the word spelunking, I asked him to explain.

His reply: "Well, it's when you stand at the top of the Grand Canyon, drop a big rock and listen for the spe-lunk sound it makes as it hits the ground."

PLAY TIME

My wife and I and our 10-year-old Ison, Adam, went backpacking in the Grand Canyon. We had reached our campsite at the end of a tiring day when Adam said, "Dad, you promised me when we got to our campsite that you would play with me."

I said I would if he'd just let me rest in the tent for 30 minutes or so first. Fifteen minutes later, Adam declared, "Dad, I know time is not up yet, but why don't you just come on out and get it over with?"

INDIAN RUINS

While working in the 1970s as a Grand Canyon ranger, I was fielding routine questions from a group of tourists when one person threw me a curve. "How many undiscovered Indian ruins are left in the Canyon?" he asked.

No one laughed, so, after pausing a moment, I answered, "Precisely 16, sir. All the rest have been discovered."

BIG HOLE

Our Kingman church group decided to go to the Grand Canyon. While there, one of our young mothers pushed her 4-year-old son in a stroller so she would not have to carry or lift him, but she was unaware that the boy was too low and couldn't see the Canyon.

Then she got closer to the edge at one of the viewing areas, and the boy could finally see the Canyon. "What a big hole," he exclaimed.

"Yes," our minister replied. "This is one of God's holy works."

Send your jokes and humorous Arizona anecdotes to Humor, Arizona Highways, 2039 W. Lewis Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85009 or e-mail us at [email protected]. We'll pay $50 for each item used. Please include your name, address and telephone number with each submission.

People think lizards are amazing because they can grow a new tail. Big deal! Four chocolate chip cookies and my tail begins to grow too.

Arizona animals is this month's joke topic. Send us your Arizona animal jokes, and for each one we print, we'll pay $50.

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