John: Browse The Strips

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.

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.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: For a while, in Rod's clinic, both patient and assistant wore protective garb when x-rays were taken. It was soon evident that the on-off switch could be placed outside the operatory behind a permanent protective shield. This made things much easier.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This storyline was really about the hiring of a new receptionist for the clinic. Our ad in the paper resulted in over a hundred applications. Many of these were instantly set aside due to the reasons I put in this strip!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Our first dog escaped the humiliation of being dressed up. Aaron was only a few months old when I sent our big Old English Sheep Dog, Farley, to live on a farm. Willy, our next dog, wasn't so lucky. Patient and easy going, Willy, a small black spaniel, succumbed to the creative energy of two kids with a full costume box. Willy put up with wigs, hats, pants, bras and footwear. He wore baby clothes and pirate gear. Without protest, he allowed himself to be transformed into whatever the kids conjured up, and I guess from a dog's perspective, this gentle abuse was a means to an end. When Willy was in full drag, he got what all pets yearn for: extra treats and loads of attention!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Lynn's Comments: After the applications for a new receptionist had been whittled down to a few, we called each girl out of the blue to see what her telephone attitude was like. An answer like, "Who? Who's calling? Hey, you kids shut the H*** up, I'm on the %#*&@^ phone!" was a definite "no."

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The crawl space in the strip was based on the one we had in our Lynn Lake house. The entrance was about three feet square with a door you pulled off and set to the side. The space inside was wide and went right under the house, which made for some dark and spooky spaces. Just inside the entrance, however, the kids had a playhouse, which saw a lot of action during the long, cold winter months. The crawl space was awkward to get into and a dusty place to store things, but we used it all the time!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Putting up Christmas lights on our log house was a challenge. The high peaked roof was a difficult place to climb, and the sides were hard to reach because of a glass porch we'd installed. When we learned that some folks were putting up smaller lights and leaving them all year 'round, we did the same. Still, the image of Dad having to struggle with Christmas lights every year was too good to abandon in the strip!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Katie was much too big, but she insisted on riding in the shopping cart baby seat. I told her repeatedly that it wasn't a good idea, but I gave in. As soon as she was settled, she was stuck. I told her to be patient, that we'd get her out when I paid for the groceries. She wailed. The man at the meat counter came out from behind the showcase and lifted Kate's upper half while I pushed her feet. We extracted her without injury. I said nothing. I didn't have to!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This story came about when I picked up a huge turkey by the metal tag and lifted it into my cart. It occurred to me that I had done something really stupid. The turkey weighed at least eighteen pounds, and if I'd dropped it, I could have broken a foot!

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!

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!

Monday, December 16, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The one thing I remember about my brother's cast (he had injured his knee playing soccer), was the way it itched and how he used Mom's knitting needles to reach into the cast to scratch. By the time he went back to the doc for a check up, the cast was full of holes--and he had to have a new one!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Having to do dentistry single-handed is really difficult, but it happens on occasion. Four-handed dentistry is now such a way of life that only the folks who practiced before this was taught, or have worked in third world countries, can manage comfortably.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I not only cry during children's stage plays, I cry at parades! All those lives, all that talent and potential makes me very emotional.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Lynn's Comments: We always had bubble lights on our tree when Alan and I were young. They were our favourite ornaments. We loved to play with them and take them apart. One Christmas, Alan was very sick. He had a high fever, and just to prove it, he put the glass tube from a bubble light in his mouth--and it bubbled! What a nifty thermometer! We thought Mom would be angry, but she wasn't. When you're feeling miserable on Christmas morning, anything that makes you smile is just fine.