Category Archives: Uncategorized

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The first gift I ever bought my mom for Mother's Day was a blue rose. It was artificial; fabric, paper and wire--but I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Very fortunately--so did she.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I remember saving to buy my mom something for Mother's Day. What can you buy for a few cents? Even in "the day" when things cost less--earnings were less too. Dad would give me 10 cents for chores that were "one off", like pulling weeds from the front path or picking up branches from the lawn. I preferred these small chores to an hourly wage. For a kid, 60 minutes of "work" is a sentence, not a job!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Mrs. Baird was a background character who was meant to be put aside once Farley came into the family (her hobby was breeding Old English sheepdogs). To tie in with this, I also did a few strips about her being a friendly neighbour. I guess her short appearance struck a chord with some readers who asked to see her more often. In this Sunday page, I have her working in her greenhouse and talking to Michael--in a way that enabled me to say more about her personality and her past.

If Mrs. Baird was based on anyone at all, it would have been the ladies who lived across the street from us when I was growing up in North Vancouver. They were sisters, the "Miss Stewarts." They taught kindergarten and piano and were endlessly patient with me. I made a habit of going to their home uninvited and was rarely told that they had no time. When I needed an extra hug or another grown-up opinion, I headed for the Miss Stewarts' house and twisted the ringer on the front door to be let in.

Not long ago, I was in North Vancouver and I went for a nostalgic walk down Fifth Street. Their old wood frame house is still there, though mine is now a condo complex. A notice was on their fence to say the house and the one next door would soon be condos as well. I'm glad I got to see it one more time. There have been many unforgettable folks in my life, and these two ladies are certainly among them!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Lynn's Comments: A question like this would have made my parents get out the encyclopedia and look up the answer. My mother especially enjoyed teaching us stuff about plants and animals and would easily pick up a snake or a spider to show us it was something to admire. She was responsible I'm sure for my brother's degree in biology and my years working as a medical artist!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This is another gift from the horse’s mouth. Any time I got my husband into a clothing store, it was a special occasion. He hated to think about his attire. As long as he was comfortable, he didn’t much care about his image! He’d buy a year’s worth of clothing in one shot. The salesman would make sure that ties went with shirts, socks matched trousers, and that everything fit accordingly. Dressing him for a special occasion was much easier when there was a plan of attack. Still there were lapses, and this exact exchange took place before a dinner we had to attend.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My brother and I fought over trivia; my kids fought over stupid things, too. Whether it’s caused by boredom or the need to establish territory, fighting between siblings seems to be unavoidable. My mother would say, “You two are LOOKING for an excuse to fight!” And we were.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I was taught to sew at a very early age. As soon as I could manage a needle and thread, I was darning socks and patching trousers. One of the first "grown-up" gifts I received was a sewing box of my own--into which my mother had put all of the things I would need, including a thimble, which was just my size. I kept the sewing case until it fell apart, and up until a few years ago, I still had the tiny scissors my grandmother used for cutting thread. Sewing has always been something I've enjoyed--as long as I didn't have to follow a pattern or make something fit!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This story line was based on the trip I made annually to Winnipeg to attend "Contact." This event was a venue for performers willing to travel to the north to showcase their talent and to meet the community representatives who would hire them. I was the rep for Lynn Lake. It was my pleasure to hire performers and arrange the various stops on their tours in our area. I have remained friends with a number of wonderful people who were billeted with us when they came to town.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom used to put my hair into what she called "bunches." She would pull my hair so tight, my eyes watered and the elastics made my head ache. When I had a daughter, I decided I wouldn't force anything like this on her, but I did want to learn how to do French braids. Kate wouldn't let me practice. No matter how I approached the subject, she was uninterested, until I offered to PAY her to let me braid her hair. Eventually this didn't work, and I gave up. I figured that I'd never see my girl with her thick, dark tresses in a hairstyle I loved. Until one day, she appeared with a perfect set of French braids, neatly tied together with a white bow. She had done them herself!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I was always happy to look after a kid for a friend, and enjoyed the reciprocal kindness. When you both have a childproofed house and all the necessary paraphernalia, one more kid hardly makes a difference.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I made good use of my own childhood experiences, and one of the things that plagued families of the 1950s was the need for parents to be right. It was, "Do as I say, not as I do," which never made a heck of a lot of sense to me. If Dad swore, swearing was cool. If Mom smoked, smoking was cool too. If what they told us didn't add up, we were quick to object, but the folks were always right--no matter how wrong they were. This was a hard facade to maintain. When I had kids of my own, I discovered that it was much easier to admit to a mistake than try and justify it.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Lynn's Comments: These strips are from a scene in my childhood. The morning after a New Year's Eve party, our house had been left as it was. Bottles of half-finished beer, glasses with the dregs, drying canapes, and stale chips covered the tabletops. Remnants of cigarettes and cigars filled the ashtrays. Alan and I were the first on the scene, and the place was ours!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This is the prayer my grandfather always said before a big meal. "For what we are about to receive, may the lord make us truly thankful." We thought it was a great prayer. It was sincere. It was genuinely heartfelt, and it said what needed to be said--before the gravy got cold!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Sure enough, a man from Ohio sent a letter telling me that he had indeed broken his foot by lifting a heavy frozen turkey by the tag, breaking the wire tie. The worst part of his injury, he confessed, was that nobody felt sorry for him. He said that as soon as they heard how it happened, they laughed. "If I had been skiing or hiking and had broken my foot, I'd have had some sympathy!" I sent him a strip. He wrote back to say it made him feel better!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: When they first came out, answering machines were a new toy for everyone. Some folks were horrified by the thought of leaving a recorded message, while others became instant hosts of their own daily show. I loved the way folks said, "Hi, I'm not here right now." -- as if they had gone to that place on "the other side." It was hard to record it right the first time, so I found saying repeatedly that I wasn't there depressing. Kids enjoyed the anonymity and entertained themselves by irritating anyone who had this device, but eventually we all became accustomed to and dependent on the answering machine. Now we're adapting to much more sophisticated toys!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I don't think I had talked about Jean's private life. Whether she was married or not had never come up, and so this pregnancy was something readers just had to accept. I was still learning how to create a believable and consistent storyline.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Because I didn't want to juggle a whole team of characters in the dental office, I made Jean both the receptionist and dental assistant. This is impossible! I then added the situation many companies dread: maternity leave.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Lynn's Comments: As a kid, I had a talent for making insults. This "gift" could be quite a threat. Woe to the child who had a name that rhymed with something funny or initials that spelled a word. If I was suffering at the hands of a bully, I'd go into my repertoire of insults and "win." When I began to change from kid to teenager, however, I became a butterball, and if somebody called me "fatso," I'd crumble. What goes 'round, comes 'round!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Curlers had gone out of style along with the housedress, but Elly occasionally sported them. Curlers and gobs of face cream were a cartoon cliche. Television sit-coms and comic strips often used these props to make a woman look her most unattractive. Today, comedy has to rely on other props...and fortunately, the shapeless housecoat is still first choice in comfortable morning garb. The good thing is that husbands look bad in them too!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The other day I watched a young mother guiding her son around the grocery store. She was letting him do all the shopping. She asked him what ingredients he would buy if he was going to make chili and what would make a nice salad. The child was about four years old and right into the project. This was a shopping trip just for him. He had to think about what he was buying and why. He was told about the cost, how one kind of bathroom tissue might be a better value for the family than another. He made decisions about desserts and treats and whether one kind of bread would be more nutritious than another. I was so impressed with this young woman's insight, patience, and ingenuity that I had to compliment her. She just said, "He was interested, so I thought it was time." As I watched her continue to the checkout counter, I wished I'd had her good sense when I was shepherding my little ones!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Boredom is the thing that drives kids to get into all kinds of mischief. It was hard to find stuff for my kids to do that wasn't electronic or fattening! This is where being "artsy-craftsy" came in handy. As long as I had art supplies, my kids had a project. I credit my mom for inventing many of the things we did!