home: Browse The Strips

Friday, September 26, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Growing up in North Vancouver meant we lived on "the rain coast," where it was rumoured that some of us had webbed feet. Despite the fact that rain was inevitable, I was well into my teens before I agreed to use an umbrella!

Friday, October 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Until perhaps grade 4, I believed in witches. I had seen "Sleeping Beauty," and the evil stepmother haunted my dreams. One night, I had a particularly vivid dream, in which I was being chased by a horrible witch. I climbed up a tree, but she was right behind me. As I climbed higher, the branches became thinner and thinner until I was stuck with nowhere to go. I looked down at the witch and said, "OK, do whatever you're gonna do. I don't care." As soon as I said that, she climbed back down the tree and ran off. I was never bothered by witches again! Guess you really do have to confront your demons.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The Barnstorf family lived across the street from us in Lynn Lake. Aaron and their youngest son, Roy, were great pals--always on the go, always getting into something. One would spur the other on, and although they could be troublesome, they never really got into trouble. The Barnstorfs' dog, Lady, was a wide, placid, and friendly English Springer Spaniel. She would put up with just about anything. One day, I went out to look for the boys and I heard the "Rmmmm-rummmm, neeeerooowwwww" sounds kids make when they're pretending to ride a motor bike. Around the side of the house, Aaron watched, waiting his turn--while Roy, standing astride Lady, loosely twisted her ears as if they were handles. Leaning forward like a racer, he drove Lady down an imaginary speedway, changing gears, changing lanes; you could almost see the wind whipping up their hair. Lady was expressionless, moving side to side, as if she were a hot machine and part of an improv comedy skit. I admonished both boys for teasing the dog, but inside, I laughed and looked forward to someday putting this scene into the strip.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My kids didn't feel the need to talk endlessly on the phone the way I did. Even with the advent of cordless handsets, they preferred to just go over to a friend's house and hang out. One thing about in living in a small rural community; your friends are all a short bike ride away.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of my better one-liners. When something like this hit my head, the whole week was in the bag! Coming up with a decent ending to each 4-panel strip wasn't easy, so one good one made the rest of the strips look good, too.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My dad made us a leaf press and we used it a lot. After we left home, my mom continued to use it for the 4-leaf clovers she found. She would place the dried leaves between two sheets of sticky acetate and laminate them; then she'd put them into cards and letters--sending a bit of luck along with her regards. To this day, I have a box of her 4-leaf clovers. They are too precious now to send.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My friend Carolyn Sadowska (a professional comedienne who's known for her comic impressions of Her Majesty the Queen) and coincidentally Aaron's Grade 1 Teacher once told me that our monarch ate bacon with her fingers, which would render this approved mealtime etiquette. I wondered, then, how she would tackle a cob of corn. Food for thought.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom could make a casserole out of anything. In turn, I too have no fear of this classic leftover surprise. My friend Kelly once told me that her husband refused to eat leftovers. I asked if she had offered them to him in a casserole. She said, "No, because he'd find out." "What do you think quiche and stir fry and pizza and soup are made of?" I argued. "Bits of stuff from the refrigerator, cut up and fashioned into something ELSE!" She said she hadn't thought of that, and we set about making a great pot of soup out of what was left in her fridge. It was a delicious brew, and her husband ate it with relish (and buns). When he was done, he asked her how she'd made it, and she replied, "soup mix," referring to a mix of stuff from the refrigerator. "Good," he said, "as long as it's not made from leftovers."

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of my husband's favourite sayings--when he was facing a seemingly impossible task was, "Details! details!"--meaning that anything can be done. This was a family inside joke, which the kids really enjoyed.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When my brother was moved to his new bedroom in the basement, I thought I'd love having a room to myself. My mother replaced the kiddie curtains with flowered drapes and made a bedspread to match. I had a new dressing table and a white headboard for my bed. It was a room to be proud of. Still, when the trees outside whistled in the wind and their branches made stark, skeletal patterns on the walls, I'd lie there, terrified. Now that I was alone, spooks, goblins, and other imaginary evils were coming nightly to "get me." During one very bad storm, my mother got out of bed to see if I was all right. As she opened the door to my room, lightning shook the house, and the flash turned my mother into a silhouette shrouded in a glowing, transparent gown. I screamed as hard as I could! She never did understand why I was so frightened by her--I couldn't explain what I'd seen. It was something I couldn't describe. This is the way I remember that evening.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When people called it "puppy love" I can't imagine a weaker label. Even in elementary school, the feelings I had for boys my age were so strong, they governed most of my thoughts. Sly looks, soft touches, love notes and straight out rejection were as real and powerful then as they were later on. Most grown-ups just don't understand. Those with good memories do!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: After Halloween, Katie would save up her goodies until Aaron went dry. Unlike her older sibling, she could restrain herself from eating all of her stash at once--which surprised me. Of the two children, she had the sweetest tooth. We even called her "Cake" instead of "Kate" because she liked desserts so much. At the end of October, however, willpower set in. She could hoard her gains in full view, then savour each morsel after Aaron's was long gone. I remember watching him as he pretended not to be fazed by the sounds of crinkling wrappers followed by lip smacking and the sound of "mmmmmm." I was surprised that he didn't pounce on her or ask me for a treat to make up for the discrepancy. He just put up with the injustice, and I wondered when and how he'd get even, because this would come about, guaranteed. Like my brother and me, my kids were creative teases!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Our house in Corbeil was hidden in quite a dense forest, so leaves and clippings could easily be tossed into the woods or piled somewhere for compost. Our house in Dundas, though (on which the Pattersons' house was based), was in a busy, upscale neighbourhood, where leaves had to be piled, pushed into bags, and left for city workers to remove. After a discussion about the waste we made with plastic bags, I decided to take a load of leaves to the dump myself, but in the back of the car, bagless. I only did this once. It was a nuisance, a mess, and created a lot of work!