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Sunday, November 17, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Next to the sink in my laundry room is a small dish into which I throw the coins, paper clips, nails, and other flotsam that's sucked out of pockets during the washing-drying process. Right now, I have 75 cents in coins, one metal washer, a zipper pull, and a large green elastic band. I don't know why I don't throw out the garbage and spend the change, but there it sits. It's a harmless collection.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Ours was an "English" household. My mom would often invite someone over for tea, and tea was served with a ritual of cubed sugar and freshly baked cakes. Kids had to be seen and not heard. If we wished to stay in the living room within reach of the desserts, we had to be patient, quiet, and still. This gave us ample time to research the guest's physical attributes and to think of suitable questions to ask later. Sometimes the questions came out before the guest's departure. I made some gaffes, but I don't remember saying anything punishable.

What I do remember is my mother telling me something she had once done. One of her mother's tea time guests was a stern, humourless woman who disapproved of children being within hearing distance of an adult conversation. My mom waited and watched in silence as the two women drank and gossiped. Eventually her mother acknowledged her presence and asked if there was anything she'd like to say. Surprised by the opportunity to speak, my mom turned to the haughty lady at the table and said, "You have a very pretty hat. It would look better if it had a smile under it."

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The room-cleaning scenario always reminded me of my own childhood. My mother made the exact same demands of me and I made the exact same excuses. This realization didn't mean that I went easier on my kids, it made me even more determined to "win" a losing battle.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Lynn's Comments: There were times when I envied my dog: no bills to pay, no groceries to buy, just hang around and be loved. On the other hand, boredom, kibble twice a day and the lack of freedom must drag a guy down.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Lynn's Comments: For the longest time, the Sears catalogue was our window into the world of new toys. Every Christmas, the special edition came out and was devoured upon delivery. These days the big box stores have it all right there, and the Internet will find you anything "unique."Â The catalogues are smaller now and feature clothing, mostly. Parents can pick and purchase toys before the book even comes out. Another tradition bows to instant availability!

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 13, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I was sure that with the huge number of readers seeing this story, surely there was someone out there who had experienced this very thing. I decided to give one of these original strips to the first person who wrote and told me their story.

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!

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.

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!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have always been uncomfortable around guns--even toy guns. Aaron, like most boys, ran around with his friends shooting sticks or fingers or whatever they could find that was shaped like a firearm. When a relative sent him a realistic toy gun, he was thrilled and I was upset. If he had any gun at all, I thought it should be purchased by his parents and given to him along with a stern lecture about weaponry, war, and the seriousness of shooting living things.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Lynn's Comments: When I was in grade one, I had a friend called Carol Mayes who had survived polio and walked with crutches. (The character Gordon Mayes was named for Carol.) I often went to the washroom with her because she needed help. I also carried her books and her lunch box when she walked home. I was fascinated by her, and when kids began to tease me saying I only liked Carol because I wanted to play with her crutches, I was confused. Did I really like her because of that? It's true, I did like to swing on her crutches and I did find her fascinating because of the scars she had from multiple surgeries. I just thought she was neat.

She had been held back several grades because of her illness, and she struggled with spelling and reading. I was a good reader, and our teacher asked me to help her, which I did. The kids who accused me of liking Carol because she had crutches were also jealous of the way I had been singled out to read with her at the back of the room. They eventually had an effect on me. As a small child, I had no way of explaining my friendship. I wanted to be accepted, and I wanted to be liked. I slowly separated myself from Carol, and was relieved when she was sent to another school. Carol was gone. The crutches were gone. I was the same as all the other kids and glad to be so.

I often think of Carol. Her strength of character, the way she thrust herself forward, dragging her feet, the way she smiled through the pain and the curious stares. I recall as if it was yesterday. Now I can say why I liked Carol. Of all the kids in my class, she impressed me as having the most to give--the one who outshone us all.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Our log house had an opening next to the top stair, just before you stepped up to the second floor. It was a perfect spy-hole from which the kids could watch what was going on downstairs in the living room. We knew it was there, but we'd forget. Many an evening's get-together was monitored by two silent, pyjama-clad spies, who went undiscovered ... unless they snickered or fell asleep at their post!

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!