Connie's house: Browse The Strips

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Lynn's Comments: Here is where I switched to another storyline. In order to keep the Connie and Ted arc going, I included this strip. I guess I should have stuck with hockey, but at the time I was into the politics of the game and not too keen on drawing the boys in the arena. What had happened was; Aaron had gone on a trip to the "playoffs" in Thompson. It was a long ride in a school bus and the team had to be billeted with families there. Because he was not one of the strongest players, he and several other boys sat on the side hardly getting to skate at all. When they returned one of the chaperones called to say that her son and Aaron had only skated for 30 seconds, during the whole time they were there! I was furious. I knew there was a tournament to win - but these were such young kids and such favouritism was so unfair. Together the other mother and I went to see the coach to find out, cordially, "what could be done". It was evident that the answer was "nothing". After that, our boys left the team, gave up their gear and skated for the fun of it. Parents worry about their kids getting hurt playing hockey. Not much is said about the emotional hurt of being left out of the game!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Lynn's Comments: The story of Connie and her unhappy relationships, again, is my story. When I was single (the first time) I went through a few frustrating relationships. I had a wonderful friend, however - a woman I'd met at the university when I worked there as a medical artist. She was a bit younger than my mom and became my mentor and confidante. I was sitting in her kitchen after a particularly confusing date...wondering aloud if I should see this man again when Marjorie said; "you have to decide: ...are you in love or in need?" Good question. The answer hurt. I moved on.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Lynn's Comments: In order to tie up the hockey scenario, I wrote this. Game over. Subject closed. There were no sidewalks in town and my kids never did roller skate. This is when the town of Milborough began to evolve. Lynn Lake, where we actually lived, was a northern mining town of about 1200 people. The next community of Leaf Rapids was 60 miles away and Thompson Manitoba was 300 miles of dirt road south from there. We were isolated. Our small Cessna aircraft was a regular every day vehicle as much as it was a luxury. We needed it for work: Rod went into the native communities one week out of every month and my work took me out of town quite often, too. We had a good airport, but the "sked" (scheduled flight) was expensive and often inconvenient. Not many people could relate to the actual life we lived, and so houses, streets, bridges, and the business district where "John Patterson" had his dental office began to take shape in my head .... and therefore, in "the strip".

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Elly's younger brother was a delightfully charming character whose flair for delivering a good opening line made doors open in all directions. I tried to imagine what Lawrence would think as he watched his mother flirt with uncle Phil. With his biological father out of the picture, Lawrence should have been the only man in her life. What would it be like to see his personal space invaded by someone else; someone who would be competing for his mother's affections?

Friday, May 6, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Never ask a kid a direct question unless you're prepared to hear an equally direct answer! When my grandfather read the comics page to me he would rail at the interaction between the Peanuts characters saying "Children don't talk like that! Children don't have such intellectual thoughts!" Privately, I disagreed with him. I might have been in first grade at the time, but I remember thinking "Of course we have those thoughts and ideas! We might not use the same words you do, but we're smarter than you think!"

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".

Friday, January 13, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Whenever I've needed a serious change in my life, I've changed my hair. For some reason, hair that has been fine for ages suddenly becomes ugly and HAS to be restyled. I don't know why they call it "the crowning glory"--to me, it's less of a crown and more of a barometer!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I expected my first spouse to change after I married him. I hoped that he would have more confidence and more self-control. In retrospect, I'd now advise people to accept their prospective partners the way they are. "If your partners' quirks irritate you before you marry, I guarantee they will drive you stark raving mad afterwards!"

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Lynn's Comments: One year, a group of us young Lynn Lake moms decided we needed a fitness class. With encouragement from an athletic girl who offered to lead the pack, eight of us met once a week at the curling club and our workouts began. Thinking this would quickly deteriorate into a social club, I went with coffee and cake in mind--but this was not to be. Our instructor took the job seriously, and under her military rule, we worked our buns off!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This strip said it loud and clear. Ted and Connie were sharing the same abode--and without the legal permits. I received a number of reader complaints and I was surprised. Their arrangement had never been made secret. I guess in a forum like this, it's better to suggest something than to come right out and admit it!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Doug and Ina Harrison lived on Trout Lake--about a mile down the road from us, close to my in-laws. Ruth and Ina were great friends. The Harrisons' dock was a favourite place for these ladies to sit and have tea, and our kids were welcome, too. Katie and Aaron spent hours on the Harrisons' dock, swimming and fishing, and enjoying the company of Doug and Ina, who became "adopted grandparents." This strip was to thank them for their kind generosity. I gave them the original.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Lynn's Comments: It was never my intention to have Connie and Lawrence move away. It just happened! Once Connie's relationship with Ted soured and Uncle Phil met Georgia, Connie's personal life was on hold. An opportunity for her to take a good job in another town seemed like a positive step, so the story took this turn. What the move did was give me another challenge to deal with and a new family to welcome. This helped to keep the story interesting.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When we moved to the North Bay area, people confused it with Thunder Bay. I was hoping that readers would go to a map and see where Thunder Bay is--and they did! The next time you see a beautiful piece of amethyst, such as crystals in a large geode, it might have come from this area. Aside from its nice hotels and good restaurants (something to look forward to when you travel the trans Canada highway) Thunder Bay is famous for its amethyst.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Having Connie, Lawrence, and their new family move back into the Pattersons' neighbourhood gave me much more to write about. Elly and Connie were a good mix of characters, and Lawrence was a wonderful sidekick for Mike. I had written them out of the strip without realizing how much they added to it!

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Throughout my life, I have had wonderful friends--both men and women, who were there when I needed them. Likewise, I have always been there for them, too. Good friends are the bandages, the bed rest, and the chicken soup of life!

Friday, July 1, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I was able to project this type of thinking onto Lawrence because this is exactly how my mind worked. Friends who have known me since grade school now tell me I was a serious pain in the wazoo, but likable!

Friday, July 8, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My dad had a friend who'd had surgery on his throat. The result was that he couldn't speak. He had learned to talk by what Dad said was called, "an educated burp." This fascinated my brother and me, so Dad challenged us to see how much of the alphabet we could recite in one long burp. Unimpressed, Mom told us off--saying we should have better things to do with our time. As soon as she was out of earshot, Dad, my brother and I continued our efforts. Yes, Dad didn't have to do much to convince Alan and me, and all the kids in the neighbourhood that he was one of us.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Lynn's Comments: While writing this short vignette, I remembered very clearly the vigils we made in our cherry tree. I could feel the branches, smell the leaves, sense the movement of the tree, and anticipate the pummeling my mother would give us if she caught us up there. A cartoonist has to have a good memory and an even better sense of "what if?"