Suddenly Silver: Browse The Strips

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This is from the mental diary I have kept for years. I was a single mother, lonely, unsure of myself and prone to making quick - often poor - decisions. I met an attractive young man while shopping with Aaron at a grocery store. We crossed paths as we coursed the aisles and eventually stopped to talk. He asked if I was single, I said I was and I accepted an invitation to go out. I got a babysitter. He picked me up at my house and proceeded to drive about the town looking for a place to eat. He had a million excuses for not wanting to go here or there and we finally went to a seedy bar where neither of us would be recognized. He had a myriad odd tales. He was a detective and had to maintain his secret identity. He was working undercover. He was part of an elite swat team. As the evening wore on, his stories became more and more outlandish. I became wary and asked him to take me home. He refused, we fought and I asked the bartender to call me a cab. I was escorted to the cab by the bouncer and when I got home, I felt vulnerable and afraid. I later discovered that my "date" was married, had a bad reputation and I was lucky to have left the bar when I did. The story doesn't end there. He had my address and a few months later he returned, unannounced. He seemed surprised when I said I never wanted to see him again and he said "Honey you're a dime a dozen anyway". I have often thought about that encounter. I wonder if he's in jail somewhere and I also wonder if, despite my naivete, I had been very, very lucky.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This is one of the "put-down" punchlines that so often got me into trouble. Readers would ask why John was so unsupportive; why I made him look so mean. My husband wouldn't say something like this...but, for some reason, I did these things without really thinking about it. Some day, maybe I'll figure it all out.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Like most dogs tall enough to reach the porcelain receptacle, Farley enjoyed a "fresh" cool swig from the commode. The sound of his lapping was intensified by the shape of the bowl, so the "slorping, galooping" effects were as entertaining as he was. What I did object to was the trail of water that poured from his hairy mug when he left the bathroom. I was more concerned about cleaning up after him than I was about his choice of water sources. I kept the biff pretty clean and besides - dogs chew on every disgusting thing they can find anyway. I tried to keep the toilet seat down, but living with men rather thwarts any success there. The trail of post-refreshment liquid really got me down, but I lived with it for the love of Farley. The head-bashing incident belongs to a friend who told me that her three year old son decided to take matters into his own hands after hearing his mom complain about this same problem. She was shocked to find him smacking the family pooch on the noggin as he drank from the toilet. She gave her son a lecture about abusing animals and sent him to his room for a time out. Later she confessed that despite her son's unkind behaviour...the dog had been cured of a bad habit. In other words, he had "put a lid on it"!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When I did this strip I hadn't written an exam in years, but the memory of the challenge, the anxiety, and the thrill of getting it over with will never be forgotten. Having finished a difficult exam I would panic and wish I could go over it just once more. Turns out that your first answer is almost always the right one and there's danger in having time to "fix" what you thought was an error!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I so enjoyed my children's innocent years. The way they look at you - as if you ruled the world; as if everything you said was genius and true - makes you feel larger than life and I guess in a way, you are. Too bad it take so little time for them to discover the truth!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Father's Day has always been one of the more challenging Sunday comics to produce. We never really made too much of it when I was a kid and later, when my two were small, it was a day when the best "present" was to let Dad spend the day in his workshop! Still, it's a day that puts the spotlight on dads and children, no matter what the marital dynamics are - which is a good thing. We need more Father's Days and Mother's Days, if you ask me. Heaven knows- there's nothing more rewarding than being recognized and appreciated for doing a difficult job well!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The real Farley rarely left the property, but if he did decide to go AWOL, he'd be gone for the day. It was hard to find him in our housing complex and there was a ravine to get into as well. It was the highway close by that really worried me. He was big and cuddly, but a pretty dim bulb; as canines go, he was no "Lassie"!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Whenever someone or something goes missing, we are programmed to think the worst. Maybe it's the news or the stuff we see on television that makes us panic, but we find ourselves preparing for the most awful of outcomes - just in case! When Farley disappeared I wondered if he had been stolen - but someone loading his dirty, hairy, odiferous butt into their vehicle was pretty hard to imagine!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Here it is; the truth about Farley and the family car. When I did travel with canine, I put a metal barrier between the hatch back compartment and the rest of the vehicle. This meant that baby and I could inhabit the space safely and without dander. The one time I left Farley in the car sans restrictions, he not only covered the windows with spittle, he jumped on the doorframe and locked himself inside.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Having Uncle Phil stay in the house while the Pattersons left for Vancouver meant that I didn't have to find a kennel for Farley (even cartoon dogs have to be taken care of) and I could place Phil and Connie in a much more compromising space. My readers smelled a rat. They were onto me; there was methane in the madness.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Twenty minutes is forever when you're a kid. We sat in the train station trying to keep Aaron occupied until we could board and get settled in our rooms. Katie was an easy traveller. If she was restless, you could settle her down with a book or a puzzle and she'd often fall asleep. Aaron on the other hand was a ball of pent up energy and required all of our attention, patience and creativity.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Lynn's Comments: For a number of years, the passenger train was scheduled to go through the Rocky Mountains late at night. This astounded us as the most breathtaking view in Canada is here and we didn't want to sleep through it! Eventually they realized they were making a mistake and changed the schedule. Over time, we eventually forgot the discomfort of the small sleeping quarters - but we'll never forget the view!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My parents had a cottage in Hope, BC. I believe we got off the train in Hope and drove to Kawkawa Lake with them. We saw my parents perhaps once a year, but the kids always remembered them. Even though "they were not going to be spoiled", Aaron and Katie were the center of attention and had a wonderful time.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Having a long distance relationship with my family was difficult. I was getting to know my in-laws very well and the kids were at home with everyone on "the other side of the family", but I missed my own. Both of my parents were creative and would have been happy to play a larger role in the children's lives, but time and the cost of travel separated us. Every visit was filled with activities and the time always flew by far too fast.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Despite his penchant for causing trouble, Aaron was a sweet and sentimental little boy. The bond he shared with my mother was very strong. The two of them seemed to have a secret between them and my dad thought he should spend more time with Katie to make up for it. Katie didn't seem to notice a discrepancy, though. Maybe she knew that Aaron needed the extra attention my mom gave him.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: It's hard for a young artist to get her work published anywhere, so I volunteered a lot in the early days. I did posters, bookmarks and signs for the library. I learned about borders and lettering and ways to get the most from two plates on the press. It was an opportunity to learn and to make up a good folio. When I hear people complain that they have to volunteer I remember my dad saying "You pay for an education, don't you?" Well, this was an education and I was getting it for free!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I imagined Elly accepting the opportunity to write a column for a local paper just to see her work in print. She is aware of how much she will learn. She is looking forward to working with others and to practising her skills - and she is not embarrassed to admit she needs the outlet and the change. It's easy to question someone's direction and motives - until you see the world through their eyes!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This has to be one of my favorite Sunday pages. Aaron often came into my room early in the morning and talked to me while I was half asleep. Katie had no reservations about running outside in the buff. Combine these two elements and I had a good gag. I had fun with the illustration- most of all I loved doing the expressions on the faces of the characters. Facial expressions and body language are as important as the punch line and I erased Michael's sly smile several times before it was right on! Sunday comics like this one were fun to read when they came out in the paper. I would read this strip as if I were a stranger who'd never seen it before. If it made me laugh again then, I knew I had a good one!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My friends told me about their toddlers' reluctance to be left at the daycare center, but Aaron was a social kid who couldn't wait to get into the stuff and the food and the excitement of new surroundings. Later, when Katie went to a sitter while I worked, she was also happy to have my friend Marian's attention and never made a fuss! These strips show what sometimes happens to others.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The Dundas Valley Journal was in a building on Main Street in Dundas Ontario. It consisted of a few cubicles, a couple of offices and a receptionist at the entrance. The receptionist had so many duties, you had to find her before you could ask to be allowed in!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Having Elly do a regular column posed the question: "about what should she write?" Since she was an avid reader (with little time to read) a column about books and local library news would be right up her alley. This was also something I could easily research. I looked forward to talking to our library staff and finding out what THEIR jobs were like.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Aaron was very much at home at the Dundas daycare center. As I said, I was grateful to what was then called "welfare" for helping me to keep my several jobs and be a mom at the same time. He was happy with the routine and when I came to get him, he often had to do "one more fing" before he was ready to go.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I bought a set of goggles and a flight helmet at a flea market in Winnipeg, thinking we might have a use for them some day. I bought a lot of crazy things like this which eventually filled a sizable trunk (which we still have to this day.) When Aaron discovered these two items, he wanted to be a flying ace for Hallowe'en and together, we made him a costume to remember.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: One Halloween, we did make Aaron an airplane costume. It was an ambitious project, as it had to fit over his snowsuit and be easy to walk around in.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: We discovered why toy aircraft have such short wings. If you try to be somewhat true to the actual shape of the craft...you run into problems!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: What you see here is the exact costume with the dilemma of having to shorten the wings so our hero could get out through the door. This was one time when I was able to give a real glimpse into our private lives and the family didn't mind a bit.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The town of Lynn Lake was small enough that kids could be out on their own and you knew they wouldn't be much more than a block away. Even so, one of us always accompanied the trick or treaters - as much for the social interaction as for their safety. Aaron resented having Kate along - he didn't like to be slowed down. So this didn't happen. This was another "what if" moment. What if Lizzie's appearance resulted in more loot?

Monday, October 31, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When I was a little kid, I was deathly afraid of witches. At the time, there seemed to be no end to the movies and bedtime stories that featured the scariest of these. When I saw "Snow White" was terrified. "Hansel and Gretel" had me pulling the covers over my head for weeks. I was even chilled by Witch Hazel in "Little Lulu". It was a long time before I overcame this fear of witches - and as I recall, it was about the same time, I began to stand up to my mother!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The yard I drew here was the yard in front of our house on Tally Ho Road in Dundas. We had a number of big leafy trees and the amount of raking to be done in the fall was overwhelming. The good thing was that they created a wonderful playground. We could bury Aaron and each other in the leaves. We rolled in them, used the leaf bags as beanbag chairs and enjoyed the crackle, the colour, and the smell.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This little one liner I used once before in a single panel cartoon, which I submitted to the Dundas Valley Journal. It was the first cartoon I had published in a newspaper.