Sometimes when my brain is feeling dull and dry and I can’t think of what to write, I’ll ask my young son Henry for advice. Recently he told me I should write about comic book superhero Aquaman. He also told me a story I should relay, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was.

I called him at home and asked him if he remembered what it was, but he couldn’t remember either.

“Well, do you want to tell me another story?” I said.

“Sure,” he replied. “The cat.”

“The cat” is our little inside joke. Actually, it’s a joke my husband told one night during a knock-knock joke session with Henry. It goes like this:

“Knock, knock. Who’s there? The cat. The cat who? The cat.”

And then my husband roars with laughter at his own answer. The first time he told it, I was very confused, which made him laugh even harder. I came around to his side and now I think it’s funny, too. In person it is funnier because of the flat inflection one uses in their voice while saying “the cat.”

They say laughter is the best medicine. I do believe this is true. I feel good after a big laugh. Henry and I laughed for a few minutes really hard at something silly the other day.

I think I should try to do that more often. I do love to hear Henry laugh and see his big smile.

On a side note, my husband Scott had a story for me, too. On his way to work one morning (it’s still dark out when he leaves the house), he looked over at the bench where we have started feeding our outdoor cat, Ace, and noticed it wasn’t Ace at all eating. It was a fluffy raccoon. And it started to come toward him, sniffing for more food.

Scott was a little startled and tried to shoo the animal away, but it did not want to budge. Finally it did. Scott said he wished he could pick up the raccoon, but knew it would have bitten him. He also remembered that he’s been fighting to keep the raccoons and other animals out of our garbage for about two years now.

Anyway, now I know why I can’t seem to keep up with feeding Ace; I’m also feeding Rocky Raccoon.

Hanson can be reached at shanson@timesleaderonline.com.