daily: Browse The Strips

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This was a very personal bit of commentary. By the time I had a few books out, I was traveling far too often and working long hours when I was home. Having a studio in the house meant that I was working whenever I could find the time, and often, the time was when my kids needed me to be just a mom and not a working mother.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I did feel guilty. I did feel that I was not giving my kids the attention they needed. On the other hand, when my kids were old enough to do stuff on their own, they were often out when I did have the time to spend with them. Ahhh--the pendulum of guilt vs. reasoning still swings back and forth.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Lynn's Comments: My dad did say I had puny tails, and it was no joke. Ponytails were a big deal in those days. Long hair was admired. I wanted long hair so badly, I cried every time my mother cut it.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Lynn's Comments: When she was four years old, my daughter, Katie, wanted to have her ears pierced. I told her it was a painful procedure and perhaps she should wait until she was a bit older. She insisted. Her friends had pierced ears and she wanted to be part of the crowd. I finally gave in and took her to Robert's Jewellers, the local jewellery store.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Kate happily chose the studs, which would be inserted. She understood that she wouldn't be able to wear anything else until she had healed. Mr. Roberts cleaned her ears and put a small blue dot on the lobe of each ear, where he would make the piercing. Her brother watched eagerly.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Lynn's Comments: POP!!!! The piercing gun made the first puncture in Kate's right ear lobe. She winced, blinked, looked straight at me, and howled! Her brother was delighted. When she'd regained her composure, Kate refused to have the left ear pierced. She'd had no idea it would hurt so much, and wasn't about to go through the procedure again. We had a problem. She could have the first stud removed so the ear could heal over, she could live with one pierced ear, or she could put up with another "pop" like the first one. Kate's tantrum continued. Mr. Roberts suggested we go home, think it over and come back later. The three of us left the building. Katie walked ahead with Aaron who pranced with glee at his sister's dilemma. Half way down the street, Kate suddenly turned and pulled me back in the direction of the store. "Let's do it." she said. The second stud was placed without a fuss, and off we went to get ice cream and groceries. "What made you change your mind?" I asked her. "He did." she said flicking her thumb in her brother's direction. "He was enjoying this too darned much!"

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Lynn's Comments: When I worked with advertising agencies, one of the things I liked to do was to come up with slogans and catchy commentary. I never took the products as seriously as I took the marketing of them. I doubt that I could do a good job of this today--I'm far too cynical!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I still believe this theory to be true. My mom-in-law's secret for serving the best hostess meals ever was: offer lots to drink and no nibbles. Then, when your guests are ready to eat the coasters, whatever you serve will be the best they ever tasted.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Our dog, Willy had a permanent roost under Katie's chair. As soon as she was seated, he'd race into position and wait. It didn't take long for her to become an accomplice in the game of "don't feed the dog." This charade went on relentlessly, and the only player who lost was me.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Lynn's Comments: In my northern Ontario living room, I had several spectacular plants. One was "Rupert," a large 40 year old jade plant, the only plant I've ever named. Rupert was named because he stayed with me, no matter what. Every other house plant had died from maladies related to neglect; the plants that made up the lovely jungle in my window were simply survivors in spite of me. "Rupe" hung in there, no matter what. He was in for the long haul--and we hauled him from Lynn Lake, Manitoba to North Bay, Ontario.

I have just sold my northern home and have moved to BC where friends and family reside, and winter is like a northern spring. The lovely folks who bought my Ontario home, graciously accepted the gift of my three big plants, one of which was Rupert! Just before the moving van was about to leave the driveway, and Katie, Lane and the kids were set for their long drive across Canada, Katie ran into my empty house and took a piece of Rupert. "He has to come with us to Vancouver!" she said. After all this time, you can't abandon a friend!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This happened. It's one of those situations where you don't want to get angry--after all, when a kid does something she's asked to do, you want to show encouragement. You hope that by thanking her graciously for her efforts now, you are creating a willing and helpful teenager down the road. --Heh.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Lynn's Comments: We once owned the full set of The Encyclopaedia Britannica. I bought this enormous set of books when we lived in tiny Lynn Lake, Manitoba. It was an arctic community into which you really had to fly. At the time, the population wasn't much more than 1200. There was only one radio station, there was no library, and the newspaper came a day late. Other than folks selling things like Avon, there were no door-to-door salespeople--it was just too far to go! When a young Britannica salesman came to our door, I was surprised. I invited him in. I had been thinking that in this area some encyclopaedias would be a great investment. He started to rattle off his pitch, but I stopped him and said it was OK! I was going to buy the whole set! He looked me in the eye in absolute disbelief. "Lady," he said, "I have flown to just about every small community in northern Manitoba, and you are my very first sale!"

Monday, October 12, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Although I've never walked around with a sandwich board, I've done what I could to make folks aware that our local theatre had wonderful live performances.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Lynn's Comments: For awhile, I organized the schedules for performers interested in touring northern Manitoba. I would go to an event in Winnipeg called "Contact," where performers would showcase their work and arrange with people, like myself, to go to remote communities. By scheduling them into several towns at a time, we were able to get some wonderful shows into the north; dance, magic, bands and theatre delighted everyone, and selfishly, I got to meet and get to know some of the people we hosted.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Lynn Lake did not have the best hotel, so performers were billeted with families in town. We had a great downstairs retreat in our house--a huge party room with two fold-out couches, a bar, and a Jacuzzi. One of the performers I remember most was Brian Glow, a magician who brought his entire kit of special effects to our house. He was a lot of fun and very good at his craft, but no matter what he did to surprise us, my son, then about four, was un-convinced of Brian's magic abilities.

Brian made coins and cards disappear. He pulled live birds out of his sleeve, and Aaron would say "but can you make it rain? Can you fly? Can you turn into a dog?"

Brian soon had the look of a man ready to run, so I made Aaron disappear. The resulting quiet was--magic.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One of the neat things about living in a small town is that you have access to so many things just because you know the people who work there. I came to admire and respect the woman who ran the Capitol Centre Theatre in North Bay. The first time I met Dee she was wearing overalls and was on her hands and knees in the basement trying to get the boiler to work. I asked her why she was the one who had to do this and she said, "We can't afford a maintenance guy--this is a theatre!"

Friday, October 16, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One year, the theatre did sell off a lot of the costumes. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for those wanting an Edwardian dress or a set of feathered tights. Sadly, it was because there was no money for proper storage.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Friends of ours held a pumpkin carving contest every year on the porch of their big North Bay home. There were pumpkins of all colours, shapes and sizes, and the resulting array of faces and pumpkin personalities, which decorated their outdoor staircase, was something we'll always remember.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This scenario is from a Little Lulu cartoon I read as a kid. Little Lulu had found a potato which looked exactly like her friend Tubby. When he found out, he went crazy and chased her all over town to get it. The story line ended with him eating the raw potato. I thought it was hilarious! Funny--the things you remember.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I had a terrible time with math. I used my fingers until I was stopped. Then I learned that if I kept my ruler on top of my desk, I could use it to help me add and subtract.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This was my grade two teacher. She actually rapped me on the head with my pencil, calling me "Germ spreader!" The thing which really got me down was that I hadn't bitten my pencil. I liked to keep my stuff in good shape. They were my brother's teeth marks she'd discovered.