Jerry Stiller and live like a chipmunk

No matter how many times you’ve seen it — one, 10 or 100 — it’s hard not to laugh when you watch the Festivus scene in “Seinfeld” with Jerry Stiller. Humor is hard to dissect and if you try too hard you can throttle the life out of it and not come any closer to what makes it funny.

However, Stiller, who died today at 92, goes all out in that scene (in the episode titled “The Strike”) and when he declares, “A Festivus for the rest of us,” he’s pointing to the heavens. Being opposite Kramer (Michael Richards) doesn’t hurt either.

Rather than sad, I’m grateful he made me and millions of people laugh. There should be a special place in heaven for people who make us laugh and if there is, Stiller is probably at the head of the table pounding his fist.

••• A note from Marge who lives in Tehachapi:

“For years I have been saving handkerchiefs that have sentimental value, many crocheted by my grandmother. As I looked through them today, I found one I had received on St. Patrick’s Day. One I carried on my wedding day. What lovely memories and some sad ones too. I never thought I would be using them again. In a much needed way. Thanks for hearing me out. “God bless you.” Marge’s note may have been in reference to the column on counting shorts, the sort of thing you do when you spend a lot of time at home. However, her imagery is better and you can see a life unfolding through the years.

••• I asked a friend of mine what she missed most

and she said, “Really good Mexican food,” which I took to mean sitting down and eating good Mexican food.

Her sentiment rings true for many of us. We remember how much fun it is to go out to eat — breakfast, lunch or dinner — whether we do so once a week or once a month. Restaurants help make a town a town, give it flavor, dash and character.

Without launching into an unattractive rant here, if restaurants are going to be asked to reduce seating given social distancing, should we not think about subsidizing them in the same way we subsidize farmers who grow corn, cotton and wheat.

Restaurants are essential, essential to our sanity — and we don’t have much left — and without them, the landscape doesn’t quite have the same sparkle.

••• As we look anywhere for inspiration, Ed Kanze

suggests we pay attention to chipmunks. Chipmunks rather than the squirrels on the bike path who don’t know if they want to stay put, cross at the last minute right or jump in their holes.

“I’ve been feeding this chipmunk, but not intentionally. In the woods behind our house, I’ve staked out a log on which a ruffed grouse tries to drum up interest in his genes every morning. I sprinkle a little cracked corn beside his log because ruffed grouse love the stuff.

“I was priding myself on my cleverness when I hid in a photographic blind nearby and made ready to shoot photos of the bird rearing up, fanning its tail, and with its powerful wings thumping the spring air. The grouse didn’t show but a chipmunk did.

“Chipmunks appear to enjoy life. I’ve never seen one looking discouraged. Yet they live, as we do these days, in a constant state of uncertainty. My goal for the days ahead is to be like a chipmunk:

stay focused, keep moving, exercise due caution without succumbing to fear, and, on occasion, stuff my cheeks with good things to eat.”

There’s a philosophy to live by, especially the stuff-your-cheeks part.