Lynn's Comments: This is an example of how to fill the audience in on a lot of information with one strip. If I didn't have time to show the audience what had transpired, I could trust one of the characters to "tell all" in a sequence like this.
John: Browse The Strips
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Lynn's Comments: Any intimate partnership must pass the "sick" test before it can be called a serious relationship. Cohabitation requires us to accept, endure, and be considerate of our "significant other's" health concerns.
Your partner's audible woe is an opportunity: every sympathetic gesture, every coo of understanding, and every expression of concern that you offer, are bankable brownie points to be redeemed when it's YOUR turn to be sick. And misery, as we all know, loves company!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Lynn's Comments: When I had my first baby I was living in a close-knit neighbourhood where neighbours really took care of each other. I've been lucky that way! I came home with Aaron to a freezer full of home made meals prepared by the ladies around me. I didn't know how much I'd appreciate having these dishes to fall back on when I was too tired to think, too frazzled to shop and too sore to work in the kitchen!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Lynn's Comments: When my second child came along, I was living a different life, enjoying the company of new friends and helpful neighbours. They all got together and filled my freezer with great meals which could be easily thawed and served. Even when you're exhausted from pushing a kid out of your nether parts, sleep deprived, and sore enough to want serious drugs, you're still expected to create in the kitchen.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Lynn's Comments: Katie and Aaron made their own Monopoly rules when the ones that came with the game didn't suit them. This is a shortened version of their game including "Va-Boogah!" which, was best shouted through a mouthful of Cheezies. These were the days before interactive video games and I often wonder if this was more fun.
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.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Lynn's Comments: If I recall, my husband the dentist had the sweetest tooth in the family.
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.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Lynn's Comments: Kate and Aaron both slept with one stuffed toy. It was me who filled my bed with stuffed animals and slept around them when I was a kid. My favourite was a koala bear that my grandmother brought back from Tasmania for me. It was real kangaroo hide and I loved him until his fur was almost gone.
My brother stole him away from me once, insisted on sleeping with him, and then wet his bed. Mom couldn't wash my koala because he was leather, so her advice was to let him sit on the windowsill and air out: "In time he will be less 'whiffy'" she said. But he stank for years, so "Whiffy" was what I called him. I still have old "Whiff" in my china cabinet. He's sweeter smelling, now, and still well loved.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Lynn's Comments: Joan (aka "Georgia") came into my brother's life when my kids were in elementary school. Because we were living in such a remote area, they didn't see a lot of Uncle Al, and didn't have the opportunity to observe his relationships. I did! Knowing he would read all the strips which alluded to him, I openly needled him, hoping he would spill the beans and let me in on his plans for the future. He didn't...until he was prepared to see it in the paper!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Lynn's Comments: I think I was right on target, here. Joan was (and is) a beautiful girl. My husband commented often on how lucky Alan was to have met her and what a "find" she was. When I said I thought he had met his intellectual equal and that looks weren't everything... the reply was (as I recall) "Yeah, but a good purchase needs great packaging!"
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Lynn's Comments: This is another glimpse from my childhood. My dad was the kind of guy who loved to build go-karts and tree houses and water slides on the lawn. Even though it wasn't cool to do stuff with your parents, a day with Dad always ended with a trophy of some kind: something built or found or eaten. When we weren't building stuff, we were hitting the dump or scrounging in the workshop and after that, we'd go to the Dairy Queen. The BIG cone cost a quarter and was almost too big to eat.
It was when we had grown up a bit that we stopped hanging out with Dad. We'd give him excuses for why we weren't into making stuff or going out and it hurt him to see us change. I do remember him taking the neighbour's kid out for an ice cream cone and wondering, "Why isn't he taking me?" - knowing full well that I'd cut him out of my circle of friends. I just wanted him to be a dad. What I didn't know was that he was being a dad and - he was exceptional!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Lynn's Comments: Before my folks took over Shore's Jewellers in North Vancouver, my dad worked for the main store on Hastings Street. Every morning he'd walk to the bottom of Lonsdale and take the ferry into the city. Like clockwork, he'd come back on the return ferry at 5:30 and be home on the dot of 6:00pm. We knew exactly when he'd be home. Alan and I would wait like two giddy, wagging dogs, ready to pounce on him. His arrival was a big part of the family routine. It heralded a call to dinner, then (after homework) an evening of board games or TV.
We'd watch something like "Gun Smoke" or "Walt Disney Presents" before going to bed. How lucky we were. I still remember the smell of my dad's raincoat as I buried my face in it. I remember being picked up so I could look directly into his eyes and thinking it must be wonderful to be so tall. I remember him kissing me and hugging me and swinging me around when he came home. When I drew this strip, I thought about how much I loved him and how love never runs out.
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.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Lynn's Comments: For some parents, the magic of Santa and the fantasy surrounding the season is hard to let go of.
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!
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!
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!