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Recently my neighbours were having a barbecue lunch. I couldn't see anything, but I could smell the delicious meats cooking. Occasionally, their quiet talking erupted suddenly into hoots of laughter, which took a while to subside.

This week's Write Space by Coromandel writer Jocelyn Davey.

I enjoyed hearing them laugh and hoped it would happen again. Comedians are paid to make us laugh. We have some good ones in New Zealand. But the laughter that bubbled over my fence was spontaneous and happy, and laughter lifts the spirits...

A laugh is a physical thing: when you laugh you make sounds, and through movement of the face and body express lively amusement. I have a friend who laughs uproariously, then runs out of breath and snorts. Synonyms for laughter include chuckle, snort, giggle and chortle. Some onomatopoeia there. Snicker and titter are at someone else's expense. Ha ha is a full-bodied, deep belly laugh. Ho ho ho is a Christmas special for Santa's use.

Children laugh a lot and from a young age. Parents will chuck a baby under the chin or tickle them to encourage laughter. What a magical sound! Such joy, and their eyes twinkle. Small girls giggled. We were called ‘Giggling Gerties.' I remember a song called the ‘Laughing Policeman.' My Dad would put on the record and we'd laugh along with him, finding it hard to stop when the record ended.

A smile is a silent display of pleasure for which the Mona Lisa is renowned. Did she laugh first then simmer down to her famous smile? If in Paris visit The Louvre to see her smiling down from the walls of the famous gallery.

Perhaps we lose the urge to laugh as we age. Living alone, as many of us do, I enjoy humour on the radio or on television, but it rarely raises a laugh. Laughter is better in company than on one's own. I live in the community rather than in a retirement village where there is a certain sameness. I can watch the traffic, a neighbour hang her washing, dogs being walked, children on bicycles and skateboards, and people working in their garden. Although our community is content enough, world tsunami, earthquakes, floods, fires, and eruptions have knocked the laughter out of us, made us fearful.

I think I smile more than laugh. While out walking, it feels good to exchange a smile. It may even end in a chat. And makes the day feel brighter. The laughter that I heard from over the fence was not a gale or even a peal. It just bubbled up - an expression of happy people enjoying themselves.

‘Laugh and the world laughs with you.'