In The Beginning, There Was Chaos: Browse The Strips

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When a child - or anyone - rights a wrong, they need recognition. To have Michael return the scarf without some praise for his honesty would have been wrong. For every manager who would punish a gesture like this, there are many more who will acknowledge the courage required when a thief returns what was taken and is ready to face the music! In this case, Michael faced both his mother and the store manager proving he had "strength of character"!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The thing about writing a sit-com style of strip is that secondary characters have to be there on hand to deliver "straight lines" These comments they would likely NOT say in real life, but do so here, in order to make the dialogue interesting. Quotes like Lawrence's here are added so the reader can weigh the outcome: Since I got away with it, would I have taken the stolen article back or would I have been nuts to do so?

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In retaliation for the store manager's off-handed response, I did this short storyline about theft, guilt and honesty and sent it in. As Farley Mowat said (when I asked him if everything he wrote in his books was true), "If it didn't happen, it SHOULD have!" My thoughts exactly!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Lynn's Comments: A big kid in my neighbourhood once told me that my butt would fall off if I unscrewed my belly button. I believed him. I have an "inny" and it was hard to see just how the "button" was engineered in there. In fear of dire consequences, I asked my dad if this was true and he laughed out loud. He assured me that my belly button was a permanent decoration and I was not to worry about losing my behind. He did tell me, however, that if I screwed up my face... it would stay that way.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I got into trouble for this story line, too; people who read the comics to their children didn't want to have to explain the origin of the Santa species. But, I figured if the kid was old enough to read and understand the comics page, he likely had the Santa thing figured out anyway. Not so, apparently!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I remember lying on the couch the day before Christmas, watching the clock. My dad walked in to the living room and bragged that he knew how to make the time go faster. I said I didn't believe him and the game was on. He took me to the basement and had me help him empty the "clinkers" from the wood and coal furnace. He let me relight the fire and watch the rolled newspapers and kindling ignite. We refilled the small metal humidifier and made space in the coal bin for another load. After a bath and a snack, the clock had moved an hour. He was right. My dad had made the time go faster!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Lynn's Comments: As a teenager, I often worked at Woodwards - a big department store in Vancouver. Every Christmas, at the last possible moment, anxious men would come into the store, desperately looking for "the right thing" for wives and girlfriends. Because my dad was a jeweller, I was most comfortable in the watch and jewellery department- which was the first place these crazed gents would go. Being a "shopper", I always looked around the store to see what perfect gifts I could find- for a mom or a girlfriend. I could always suggest something better than the fast "OK, that gew-gah looks good- I'll take it!" I was often given "time out" to take people to other departments where I'd point out a beautiful purse, glove and scarf set or unique linens or cookware. So many times, these men would return after Christmas and thank me for the ideas and it made me feel great! Who knew that in a few more decades, "professional shopper" would become a career!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I don't know about you ladies out there, but I'd much rather get a food processor for Christmas than a nightgown that was chosen by my husband!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I love having adult children. They tell me the truth NOW about things I suspected when they were little. I just found out that both kids knew exactly where to find my hidden cache of Yuletide gifts. Even worse, they actually unwrapped and carefully rewrapped them! The one concession was that Katie admitted to being disappointed on Christmas morning when she unwrapped gifts that were no longer a surprise. As her grandfather was fond of saying: "Cheaters never prosper!"

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Lynn's Comments: By listing their names, I was able to say "hello" to a number of dear friends in this strip. When it appeared in the paper, I looked forward to their inevitable calls. So often my friends would say, "you'd better not put me in the paper!" But when I did, they were always thrilled.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Getting the kids ready for tree cutting trip took almost as much time as the event itself. Bundling them into layer after layer of winter duds followed by a drive out into the bush was a challenge. Follow this with a tiring search for the right tree and you have a cold and hungry family ready to take down the first semi suitable shrub in the area.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The annual trek into the bush to get our Christmas tree was a Lynn Lake ritual. The trouble was that the good trees were only visible in the summer. You'd have to tag the tree and hope someone else didn't cut it down before you did! December temperatures would often dip below -39C so you had to know where you were going and take your tree fast - before you froze to the spot where you were standing. A frozen trunk wasn't always the easiest thing to chop or saw through, either!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: A good tree, harvested by hand, was something to celebrate. In this strip, Farley is giving the yuletide conifer a canine style christening - another event which never happened, but should have!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Kids are always excited about Christmas. Moms spend so much time preparing for the big day that their fun only lasts for a few hours on the morning of the 25th- before the great feast! Moms don't get the same bang for the buck as the rest of the clan, whereas Dads are far more into "Santa Claus" than they let on. Even though he knew what was in most of them, I would find my husband sniffing and shaking the boxes under the tree when he thought nobody was looking.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My brother and I were allowed to open one gift and our stocking if we got up before our parents did. Naturally, we were up before 6am, whispering in the dark as we sniffed out the right gift to open. Our dad, not wanting to miss any of the fun, was soon sitting under the tree next to us, waiting for Mom to make the coffee. Nothing could be opened until she had a coffee in her hand. Even now, the smell of fresh brewed coffee on Christmas morning signals that it's time for the greed-fest to begin.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When our kids were little, I wished that my parents didn't live so far away. Christmas time, especially, would have been better if the other set of "grands" had been there to share it with. The telephone was the next best thing and the bill became our annual gifts to each other.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: After all of the preparations and expense; after the cards and the phone calls and the waiting for the clan to gather, the actual day of celebration seemed to be over in a flash. After getting the kids to sleep and the kitchen cleaned up I remember falling into bed dead tired, buzzing from too much food, company and excitement. Still, the sleep that came after everything was over was a deep and satisfying one- knowing I had a whole year to prepare for the next Christmas!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Every year, New Year's Eve was celebrated in a private home; all of us taking turns hosting the event. We had a pretty nice rec room downstairs: a bar, big bathroom, two large couches to sleep on and lots of chairs. When it was our turn to have the big bash, I decorated as best I could with whatever was available at the local shops and applied my mother in law's recipe for a good time: "make sure everyone is a little sauced before you serve the food".

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In reality, it was I who felt uncomfortable in a crowd. My husband fit nicely into any large group and could dig into any conversation easily. If the gathering was at our place, I knew my role. But if it was elsewhere, however, I would rather help the hostess in the kitchen than try and fit in with the guests. Despite the public speaking and all the travelling I do, I'm still out of my element when I'm in a crowd!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I enjoy company, but I always seem to make too much food. I make hors d'oeuvres, salads, mixed drinks and have munchies on hand, so when it comes time for dinner, everyone is too full to eat anything. I always have a ton of perishable leftovers, which then go into the fridge to die. Party food is only good when there's a party!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My spouse enjoyed big events. He was comfortable at conventions and other public gatherings, but when it came to having folks over to the house, he preferred a very small group. I guess it's because there was less to clean up!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The pharmacist hosted the first New Year's Eve party we ever attended in Lynn Lake. Because the liquor store was in the pharmacy, libation flowed. It didn't take long before my husband was leaning dangerously. Fearing we'd make a scene in front of the town's professionals, I insisted we walk home. As we shuffled the six blocks between houses, we heard a truck behind us. It was the pharmacist and all the guys from the party. They were hanging out the windows... wildly cheering us on!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The day after the party, my husband was really under the weather. Surprised by how miserable he was, I asked him if he remembered the good ol' university days when drinking was a sport and the results taken for granted. His response was "I've never been drunk before! This is the first time!" I guess he was saving the worst for last.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Lynn's Comments: One of the concerns my husband had at the dental clinic was well meaning moms wanting to be in the operatory to "help calm their children". Typically, the child would be fine with the dental staff and the doctor but mom would insist on being there--that's when the problems began. I remember him telling me about a mother who watched the procedure in silence until he was ready to inject the anesthetic. Then she said to her son in a sing-song voice; "Here comes the needle!!" The child immediately started to howl and the process was delayed until he settled down. Just knowing that mom was listening in might be enough for a nervous or high maintenance kid to start a row. So the farther the parent was separated from the patient the better.

I did this strip a few months after this actual incident occurred. The characters were changed to protect the identities of the patient and his mom. As far as I know, they never did see the connection!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Lynn's Comments: There were times when we did pull the silent treatment on each other. I don't know if it was a kind of punishment or an effort to think before saying anything else that might hurt. With so many things on our minds, small concerns like this were soon forgotten and life returned to normal.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This bit of dialogue is word for word from my first marriage. When my husband refused to talk about a problem, I sarcastically made up both sides of the conversation. His response was "You have NO idea what I'm thinking!" and my reply was: "Then, TALK to me!"

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I knew the kids suffered any time we fought. We didn't disagree too often, but when we did, Kate and Aaron felt it was somehow their fault. We usually don't talk to them about the issues, we don't explain what's happening and why we're mad, so kids try and unravel the puzzle the best way they know how. To a child, the world revolves around them--and if this is the case, it must be their fault if the world leaves it's axis and gets wobbly sometimes! I tried to show that here.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Since the temperature up north did dip well below --20 degrees C, going for a walk to "cool off" wasn't a bad idea. You either resolved your mental conflict in a hurry or wound up at a friend's place for a beer.