Elly: Browse The Strips

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Back to live theatre. Both my son and I have "standup" in our genes. When it comes to storytelling, wild explanations, excuses and jokes, you can count on both of us to give it our improvised all. I recall sending Aaron to school when he was on death's doorstep. As he grudgingly dressed for school, I could tell he was wondering how I had uncovered his scam. He had hidden the hot water bottle well enough that it couldn't be connected to the high temperature he had, but I still sent him packing. How did I know? First of all, he played it too well. I detected a rehearsal. Second? The tap in the bathroom was still hot to the touch. The "heat the thermometer" trick was an old one...and had also been one of mine!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My folks were ingenious at keeping the fantasy going. Both could concoct stories that kept us wide-eyed and gullible. Dad reasoned that rabbits were everywhere, but never seen - which was true. They certainly did a number on our garden. My mother, though eager to teach us everything about science and nature, went far beyond the old "as long as you believe, he exists" thing and asked us to prove the Easter Bunny did NOT exist...which, until we were at the skeptical age of eight, was pretty hard to do. The fact was that it was fun to believe and it was fun to prepare and there was always the fear that if the spell were broken, we'd have no chocolate at all!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Tootie, our teenaged neighbor next door, had chickens which she raised as pets...and for experimentation. One spring, after corn soaked in food colouring failed to colour the eggs, she dyed the chicks instead. Like tiny wind-up toys, blue, pink, green and orange balls of fluff ran about the wire enclosure. Alan and I were thrilled with them and were at the coop every day until the colour wore off and their stubbly brown adult feathers started to grow in. One day, Tootie let us watch a hen lay an egg. We were both fascinated and appalled. "Is THAT where they come from?" we asked. It was our first introduction to the mystery of birth and we were keen to know more. Unwilling to tell us too much too soon, our parents explained that this was where birds came from - and as far as we were concerned, that was information enough. This was one truth that really was stranger than fiction!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Colouring eggs was one of the best things about Easter. Mom would boil up eggs, soak them briefly in vinegar to erode the shells and then set out dishes of dye for us to dip them in. The dye kit came with a small metal wand, looped at one end to hold an egg. If you were careful, you could dip one end of the egg in dye, turn it over and dip the other end in a different colour. Not one to do things without a flourish, Mom helped us draw on the eggs with white wax crayon which resisted the dye and left our doodles and designs the colour of the shell. We applied stickers and feathers and plastic eyeballs to our coloured eggs and when we were done, they were put in the fridge until Easter night, when the Easter bunny would hide them, along with chocolate and candy eggs as well. In the morning, after the hunt, we'd put them in the "bunny box". Already in the bunny box was a chocolate bunny for each of us, which we'd eat before breakfast - ears first. Alan and I found out where the eggs had come from (as demonstrated by Tootie's chickens) but this was no longer an issue. The magic and the fantasy always returned with flying colours!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: These are the thoughts I had as I sat in church with my mother, listening to the Easter morning service. Our Anglican minister put a heavy focus on the death of Jesus and we were all made to feel responsible! "It's because of YOU that he died! You are all SINNERS!!! You nailed Him to the cross!" I was eight years old and I thought..."But, I wasn't there! I wasn't responsible! I wasn't even BORN yet!" Years later, when my children asked to know more about the Easter story, I tried to tell it in a way that they could understand - putting the blame on a time when people were unjustly condemned all the time. I think this helped to separate them from a tragedy that occurred two thousand years ago and allowed them to focus on the message, the meaning and what was achieved. This cartoon was done after Aaron and I had watched a movie together - I think it was "Ben Hur". He was so moved by the crucifixion that he wished he had been there to prevent it. It was an exceptional moment that we shared together and we talked about it for some time. This is one instance when I had an opportunity to talk about some really serious concepts with my son, and I hope used it well.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In 1973, Alan moved into my small house in Dundas and settled into the garage, which I'd tried to make as habitable as possible. Aaron, sensing a kindred spirit, was immediately on Al's lap and I could see I was immediately outnumbered. Over the years Alan came to visit often but this was the one time, after a deadly sibling rivalry, we arranged to try cohabitation once more. He moved what little he had into the garage and, as they say, we lived for awhile in "interesting times". I had also sublet Aaron's room to a geologist friend who was working on her master's thesis and who had offered to help pay the rent. The dynamics of the three of us under the same roof with a baby made us all get to know each other perhaps a little too well!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Alan's life hadn't really been this exciting. He had been working in construction while trying to get a music career off the ground and had moved to Ontario to see if the grass (yes) was greener in the east. Still, I was jealous of his freedom and his casual ways. I had become a mom and a homeowner who had little to live on, and I was determined to carry my own load. If I spent more than $20 a week on groceries, I'd be unable to pay the mortgage, which at the time was $147 a month. My friends who rented apartments and had no kids thought I was rich. This, of course, was far from the truth. Along with the mortgage came the taxes, repairs, maintenance and other bills - all of which meant that I was living at or below the poverty line. My friend Fran was renting a room, which helped a lot. She also took care of Aaron and did much of the cooking, but we were far from solvent. When Alan went out for groceries one day and came back with a few cases of beer, I knew that our living arrangement was going to come in for review.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Now, we shift back in time to when Alan lived in my garage. As a musician, his schedule was 24 hours on call. If he had a "gig" somewhere, he might come home around two in the morning, all enthused after a night of jazz or rock or whatever had been "going down". Trumpet players are often like freelance artists. You join a group that's looking for a horn player, practice for awhile and blend in. Al had regular performances, too. He played classical and Baroque and when he wasn't playing for an event, he practiced. It wasn't unusual after a performance for him to practice in the garage well into the morning hours, and if I asked him to lower the sound, he used his mouthpiece. This made a Donald Duck kind of "kwakking" sound - which was fine if you were awake and sensible, not so cool at the bewitching hour. We had a number of tense discussions about this and I think I won. I don't remember. You lose some of your faculties with the lack of sleep.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I think it's safe to say that a mother's morning starts around the crack of dawn. Aaron was always up and ready for breakfast around five a.m. My job in the graphics dept. at Standard Engravers began at eight, so I had time to get clothing organized, get lunches made and make sure the car would run before I dropped him at the daycare at 7:30. My kitchen door led into the garage where my brother lived and I tried to keep the noise down so I wouldn't disturb his sleep. There were times, though, when I thought about him blissfully slumbering, unencumbered by household chores, bosses and babies and it really ticked me off. I had never lived on my own. I never had the luxury of falling into an unmade bed at midnight after a night on the town, then spending the weekend doing whatever I darn well pleased. Like many girls in the 60s I got married at the tender age of twenty and moved from my parents' home to an apartment where I assumed the wifely role of "caring for my man". Now divorced with a child to care for, I imagined my brother's life to be ideal. It's funny now to talk to him about this time in his career and he remembers it differently. For him it was unsettling to be living in my garage without a steady job and something to show for his 26 years on the planet. He felt lost and lonely and wanted the stability I seemed to have. We thought we were communicating at the time, but we never said what we were really thinking.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Living through Annie's pregnancy was a lot of fun. I got to talk to expectant moms about their experience and to remember my own. Looking at baby clothes is something we (ladies) all enjoy doing and I often wonder why some of the whimsical fabrics found in the children's shops couldn't be made into lines of adult clothing. Imagine an evening gown covered in tiny cartoons of anything from funny animals to funky flowers! Like Annie, the problem of swelling feet went along with the swelling tummy and once again, I heard from expectant readers who were glad to share their woes with their toes!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My friend Mary seemed to have a bun in the oven every year. When baby number seven was on the way, she sighed and said she wondered if this one would be the last. I assured her it was indeed the last one and she wondered how I knew. "Well", I said, "your husband was one of seven kids and he told me he wanted the same number of children, too". "He did, did he?" she replied in her sweet Irish accent..."Well, why the h*** didn't he tell ME?!!!" We always wonder what the future will hold when we're in the family way - but it all seems so right when we're holding our beautiful new baby!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Uncle Phil's relationship with Connie illustrated the single side of things and Connie's having a child nicely complicated everything. Naturally, Elly was intrigued by her brother's affairs. Because he was living in her home and dating her close friend she felt it was...let's say... "her responsibility" to find out what was going on. When my brother lived with me, however, I refused to ask him his personal life. I would wait until he confided in my other room mate, Fran...and worm the information out of her!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Word for word this is a true exchange. Aaron and his friend Roy were allowed to go down to "Fergy's", the local corner store, pool hall and hang-out - and Fergy's motto "buy or bye-bye" meant that they wouldn't be there long. Fergy made his money on pop and penny candy and despite the difficulty in getting fresh produce into the north, the licorice was always fresh. Licorice, ginger and chocolate are my favorite diet-breakers and the kids knew I'd shell out a few bucks if I they'd be sure to return with "the goods". It's funny, this thing about licorice. It was my grandfather's favorite, my mother's favorite and Charles Schulz liked it too. I took him a bag of licorice allsorts when he was in the hospital and he lit up with a smile. This is what we munched on as we spoke for the last time. He died not long afterwards and every time I see licorice allsorts, I think of him.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My brother Alan has been playing the trumpet since he was about nine years old. He'd sit on the old blue couch in our folks' living room and, with unyielding dedication, practice until he was exhausted. We all admired his tenacity. Dad was a musician and taught me the guitar - so music was a way of life in our family. Eventually, Al's musical friends entered the picture. Our basement became a rehearsal hall, the kitchen a roost and the refrigerator emptied faster than a gut full of goose grease (a quote from Dad). Beer was never a staple in our family but it soon became the weekend libation of choice. Though drinking was never a problem, Mom's philosophy was; "If you can't stay sober, stay home!"

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Lynn's Comments: During the mid 70's when Alan wound up living in my garage, the quest for a cheap, clean apartment was ongoing. Everything from distance to parking to price thwarted his efforts and then there was the noise. Where could one practice the trumpet at midnight or two a.m. without being thrown out by heavyweights in the local Tenants' Rights Association? Despite his dreary existence in my garage, it provided him with cheap digs, a place to practice and a clear shot at the fridge, which was just inside the door. I wondered how long it would be before he found a more desirable location, all too aware that for now, at least... he had a pretty good deal!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This is a scenario straight from my past. My dad used a blade razor for years, until electric shavers became efficient and more popular. In fact, he sold them at the store, which had become a sort of high end gift shop by the time I was in my teens. I think it was a "Ronco" shaver which came home first. We had one small, communal bathroom so nothing was secret, sacred or safe! When Dad left the new shaver on the sink, it was only a matter of hours before Alan and I were shaving ourselves, each other and the carpet in the hall. I remember taking it apart and tapping the debris into the sink. Dad was never as miffed as Mom was by the things we did. Stuff always got tided up (by Mom) and besides, there were other shavers at the store to bring home and try. Dad could fix anything and when the Ronco jammed, he'd find a way to get it humming again. Ladies' shavers were introduced soon after the men's became popular, but Mom refused to have one. She preferred a blade on her legs, she said and would never use an electric one. We put this down to her great practicality until, one day when she thought she was alone in the house... I saw her shaving her chin with Dad's!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My friend Adrienne went back to school when she was 30. She finished her grade 12 and went on to become a lab technician in the blood lab at McMaster University. She was a single mom with more courage and determination than most. She made me realize that you can do anything - at any age, if you really want to. With "Andie" in mind, I had Elly go back to school and take some of the courses she had missed.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Smoking has always been a problem for me. Both my folks smoked and it was my job to clean the ashtrays. Because of the jewelry/gift shop, we had an ashtray on every surface, it seemed, and emptying them was a chore I hated! The ceiling above Dad's chair was yellow and the curtains always had the stale smell of smoke. I would kneel on the couch, looking out the window through the sheers and vow that in my own house, there would be no smoking. It was therefore a bone of contention between Alan and I when he moved in with his habit and his reluctance to smoke outside.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Every time my brother went off to do a show or escort a lady to dinner, I was a bit jealous, and very curious. If I had rented my garage to a stranger, I would have left well enough alone – but because this was my brother, I had to know what was going on and with whom he was going! He was pretty good-natured about my prying. I believed I was the one with no life and all the responsibility and there were times that he thought so, too.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When I read the strips which ask serious questions...I realize there were serious answers left unsaid.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When we accept the role of mom, we become a nurse, a psychologist, a short order cook, a laundress and an alarm clock. Our day seems to belong to everyone else. Everything has its schedule and coordinating lunches, school activities and the general business of living leaves little time in the morning for extras. There's no time to spend on make up and hair spray - we are our basic selves. I was miffed one time to be told that I used to look GOOD in the morning! This is another strip that says out loud what I was thinking.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Here is a scenario that would play out many times in my housewifely career: you make easy meals which cover all the food groups, you leave them in the fridge to be accessed by the troops and without a second thought, they bypass your well organized and clearly labeled containers...and eat junk. On your return from wherever it is you went, you then find your freshly prepared grub reduced to dried, moldering leftovers - having never seen plate nor palate. So, you say the next time you fly the coop, there will be no meal preparation in advance and the troops can fend for themselves. I tried this once and the response was "What? You didn't MAKE us anything?" You can't win - which is why the freezer is such a good invention.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I had been doing the strip long enough by now to let a punch line go in favour of a "cliff hanger". I hoped the readers would be sufficiently tuned in to the characters and their relationships to look for a continuation the next day.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The line "dumper-dumpee" occurred to me when I was a single mom. I was commiserating with my friend, Adrienne, who was in the same boat. Our husbands had "dumped" us both and we wondered if WE'D ever be the ones to say "goodbye".

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In Lynn Lake, there were only a few meters before you hit pay dirt on the road in front of the house. Aaron carried a constant dusting of grime wherever he went and this was a good line. I wish it had been his - but it was mine!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I've said before that my brother's idea of a week's worth of groceries was several cases of beer. Well, he still comes to visit me with "groceries" but now he brings a more expensive brand!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This one was a regular scenario. My studio was in the house and the kids knew when I was so into my work that I was "gone". They were pretty good about it, but now and then, they let me know - in a way kids do - that it was time to come out of the zone and be Mom again!

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!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Before the onset of menopause, my feet were always cold. I wore long cotton nightgowns and slept with my socks on (still do!) I don't think I pulled this trick too many times, but the idea was funny and the drawing was fun! Any opportunity to show a character hollering with a mouth wide open like this made my day!