sunday: Browse The Strips
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Katie did chew her mittens--right through the thumb. This strip was another cry of angst from her mom. My kids were often lucky that I could "use" this material!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Here is another word for word exchange between my husband and me. The punch line was exactly as written. I didn't toss a measuring cup--but I sure wanted to. This resulted in his taking over the pressing of his own shirts and clinic gowns--until we hired a housekeeper who came once a week and actually enjoyed ironing!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Lynn's Comments: After looking for the bathtub plug for some time, I once settled on a spud that fit right into the hole. I'll do anything to have a nice, hot bath! Years later, I was visiting friends in Cuba. A neighbour kindly invited us to her house for dinner and when we went to do the dishes afterwards, there was no plug in the sink. She was about to use a soup pot to wash up in when I saw a basket of fresh potatoes under the counter. I selected one the right size and popped it into the hole.
Potato is "papa" in Spanish and the word for plug is "tapa". So, I said, "Look! You have a papa for a tapa!" She laughed and I promised her that I would bring her a plug the next day. My friends and I went to every hardware store in Havana and could not find a simple rubber stopper for a sink! There were a number of things we couldn't find: a large garbage pail with a lid, a good pair of scissors, and masking tape--these things are found everywhere back home. I couldn't believe that these small, useful items that we all take for granted were so hard to find.
The following year, I went back to Cuba. I took our friend a plug for her sink and a number of other things. She was more than pleased--she was grateful. Circumstances there are different now. Cuba has opened up and stores are able to carry more products. I still visit my friends and we always recall the time I used a papa for a tapa... a little trick I brought from home.
Potato is "papa" in Spanish and the word for plug is "tapa". So, I said, "Look! You have a papa for a tapa!" She laughed and I promised her that I would bring her a plug the next day. My friends and I went to every hardware store in Havana and could not find a simple rubber stopper for a sink! There were a number of things we couldn't find: a large garbage pail with a lid, a good pair of scissors, and masking tape--these things are found everywhere back home. I couldn't believe that these small, useful items that we all take for granted were so hard to find.
The following year, I went back to Cuba. I took our friend a plug for her sink and a number of other things. She was more than pleased--she was grateful. Circumstances there are different now. Cuba has opened up and stores are able to carry more products. I still visit my friends and we always recall the time I used a papa for a tapa... a little trick I brought from home.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Lynn's Comments: This is me. These are my words. This is also my mother and her logic. I could waste an entire day lying on the couch, wishing I was someone else, somewhere else, wondering why I had to wait so long to be out of the house and on my own. I wasn't even a teenager at the time--I was in elementary school. As a teen, I was involved in too many projects and clubs and activities to be bored.
As a child, I was either off in a world of fantasy or trying to figure out why life was the way it was. I wanted to know why I was there, what I was going to do when I grew up, and I wanted to get started NOW! A day was so long and a week was forever. I figured I was wasting time. It wasn't until I was sent to the Vancouver School of Art for Saturday morning classes that I felt secure. For some kids, it's sports that get them out and energized. For me and for many of my friends, it was art that filled us with a sense of purpose.
As a child, I was either off in a world of fantasy or trying to figure out why life was the way it was. I wanted to know why I was there, what I was going to do when I grew up, and I wanted to get started NOW! A day was so long and a week was forever. I figured I was wasting time. It wasn't until I was sent to the Vancouver School of Art for Saturday morning classes that I felt secure. For some kids, it's sports that get them out and energized. For me and for many of my friends, it was art that filled us with a sense of purpose.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Lynn's Comments: This was an inside joke between Gunther Hildebrandt, a long time family friend, and ourselves. Gunther enjoyed reading the news and discussing current events, especially with my father-in-law. Together, they would solve the problems of the world. Gunther loved to talk, so in this strip I am having a bit of fun at his expense. The dental clinic was never the place to have a really good conversation, especially for the patient.
Gunther was a good sport. In fact, friends and family always enjoyed seeing their names, and it undoubtedly resulted in mail and phone calls from their own friends and family, from all across the continent, saying, "I saw you in the funny papers!"
Gunther was a good sport. In fact, friends and family always enjoyed seeing their names, and it undoubtedly resulted in mail and phone calls from their own friends and family, from all across the continent, saying, "I saw you in the funny papers!"
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Lynn's Comments: To end a dispute between Kate and Aaron, I did divide the kitchen table so that each child had their own side. I then divided the couch and Aaron himself divided the living room. This bit of biblical rectitude resulted in a deep interest in equality. Both kids then wanted to divide the house, the hallways, and the stairwell into "what's yours" and "what's mine".
The task was not a small one, but they were determined. It gave them something to do together and the price of a roll of masking tape was a small price to pay for silence. I decided to use this in a Sunday strip. The thought that they might even have tried to divide the dog had me smiling for days!
The task was not a small one, but they were determined. It gave them something to do together and the price of a roll of masking tape was a small price to pay for silence. I decided to use this in a Sunday strip. The thought that they might even have tried to divide the dog had me smiling for days!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When plastic glasses were introduced to our household in the 50's Alan and I used them for everything from sandbox scoops to stacking toys. It was fun to see how much water we could hold with the suction from our mouths before the glass would fall off. Hopefully we would catch it before it hit the floor and alerted the authorities. Having two kids in the strip allowed me to recall so many of my own childhood antics.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Feeling soft and out of shape, a few of us decided to create an exercise group. We found a capable leader who, for a modest sum, agreed to make us sweat a couple of afternoons a week. She turned out to be a drill sergeant. After a few serious workouts, we were all stiff and sore. I remember lying on the couch in pain, feeling muscles I didn't know existed. I thought that running after, picking up, and carrying kids would have put us all ahead of the game.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Lynn's Comments: This was when three dollars bought a toy that would last! We tried to introduce the concept of earning and saving and waiting until you could afford the things you want, but understanding money takes time.
Aaron had a weekly allowance and what didn't go to Fergy's candy counter, went to the toy department at "The Bay." The Lynn Lake Hudson's Bay store was a long cinder block building, which carried everything from groceries to long underwear. The toy department was smack dab in the middle of the store. We couldn't navigate the aisles without going past the toys and Aaron knew the entire inventory. He liked Lego, in particular, and wanted every kit available.
We insisted that he buy these kits with his own money. Every week, he'd skip down to see if his box was still on "hold" and put a dollar more down on his prize and calculate how much more he had to pay. It was a great way to make a toy mean something! Aaron learned about what things cost. He learned about taxes and he learned a lot about planning and patience ... and in so doing, I learned a lot about him.
Aaron had a weekly allowance and what didn't go to Fergy's candy counter, went to the toy department at "The Bay." The Lynn Lake Hudson's Bay store was a long cinder block building, which carried everything from groceries to long underwear. The toy department was smack dab in the middle of the store. We couldn't navigate the aisles without going past the toys and Aaron knew the entire inventory. He liked Lego, in particular, and wanted every kit available.
We insisted that he buy these kits with his own money. Every week, he'd skip down to see if his box was still on "hold" and put a dollar more down on his prize and calculate how much more he had to pay. It was a great way to make a toy mean something! Aaron learned about what things cost. He learned about taxes and he learned a lot about planning and patience ... and in so doing, I learned a lot about him.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Eddy King, our local barber, was a neighbour and friend. Our cabins on Berge Lake were side by side. Whenever Rod had a chance to talk to Eddie, it was usually a long conversation. When it came to giving a haircut, Eddie would cut for as long as the conversation lasted. Occasionally, Rod would come home with almost no hair left --I hated it! I kept hoping that next time he had his hair cut, they would have much less to say!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Farley had great wide hairy feet and every time he came indoors, I wiped them as best I could--knowing that dirt would come in anyway and I'd just have to deal with it. When my kids came in carrying the same amount of flotsam, however, I bounced around pointing at the inevitable grime and water, telling them in no uncertain terms that they had to be more careful and considerate and bla, bla, bla.... Maybe we're so much more patient with them because dogs can't talk back!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Lynn's Comments: This was a story my dad told us; "If you get up early on Easter Sunday morning, you will see the sun dance as it rises." Dutifully, Alan and I would get up to see if the story was true, but we never saw the sun dance on Easter morning. I think Dad had bet on two things: one, he never expected my brother and me to actually get out of a warm bed so early and two, in Vancouver, it always seemed to rain on Easter. His explanation for why the sun hadn't danced was that we probably didn't BELIEVE enough! I guess we believed enough in the Easter bunny, though--because every year, he showed up without fail!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The punch line says it all!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Because of the three-hour time difference between Ontario and Vancouver, we had a hard time making phone calls. Either my folks were having dinner (and hated to be disturbed) or we were. If I called during the day, the kids were out. In the afternoon, my folks were out. The odd time we had a conversation (at a good time for both parties) everyone wanted to talk at once!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I could never find my kitchen scissors. After looking high and low, I would buy a new pair and eventually those would disappear, too. This scenario was typical of a time when Kate and Aaron were small and things ended up in the garden, at the neighbours', or in the workshop--never to be seen again.
When Katie was a teenager, I made a declaration one day: she was grounded until she cleaned her room. Begrudgingly, she did so. The result? No less than nine pairs of scissors were discovered among the debris. The moral of the story? ... A string on the kitchen scissors might look silly, but you'll always know where to find them!
When Katie was a teenager, I made a declaration one day: she was grounded until she cleaned her room. Begrudgingly, she did so. The result? No less than nine pairs of scissors were discovered among the debris. The moral of the story? ... A string on the kitchen scissors might look silly, but you'll always know where to find them!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Katie was able to crawl into the tiniest places and we did "lose" her in our roomy house from time to time. One of her favourite spots was under the kitchen sink, which meant I had to put the soaps and cleaners in another place. Convenience always takes a back seat to safety!
As a kid, I loved hide and seek. I attended kindergarten in a private home across the street from ours. Our teacher, Miss Stewart, often had us play this game, but we had to stay within the classroom. How dull! I knew her house well and when it was my turn to hide, I left the room and hid in her broom closet. Kids searched for me and Miss Stewart hollered. I eventually got bored waiting for them to find me, so I decided to surprise them all by taking my clothes off. When Miss Stewart opened the door to the broom closet, there I was in my birthday suit. Immediately, she pulled a small rug off the floor, flung it in front of me, and told the class of giggling kids to go back to their chairs and wait. At once, I was shoved into my duds. Miss Stewart's sister watched the class as she marched me across the street to my house. Mom opened the door to a barrage of complaints, accepted me into the house, thanked Miss Stewart, and sent me to my room. That day, I was expelled from kindergarten. I guess this was the last straw!
As a kid, I loved hide and seek. I attended kindergarten in a private home across the street from ours. Our teacher, Miss Stewart, often had us play this game, but we had to stay within the classroom. How dull! I knew her house well and when it was my turn to hide, I left the room and hid in her broom closet. Kids searched for me and Miss Stewart hollered. I eventually got bored waiting for them to find me, so I decided to surprise them all by taking my clothes off. When Miss Stewart opened the door to the broom closet, there I was in my birthday suit. Immediately, she pulled a small rug off the floor, flung it in front of me, and told the class of giggling kids to go back to their chairs and wait. At once, I was shoved into my duds. Miss Stewart's sister watched the class as she marched me across the street to my house. Mom opened the door to a barrage of complaints, accepted me into the house, thanked Miss Stewart, and sent me to my room. That day, I was expelled from kindergarten. I guess this was the last straw!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Lynn's Comments: This scenario has been a cartoon staple for years. Even though we all try not to duplicate something we've likely seen before, there is always the need to do it your own way, using your own characters. The thing is to try and do it better than the last guy! I didn't succeed in doing this better than Doug Wright ("Nipper") for example, but simply drawing one more mess was enough to make me do this old chestnut one more time. My kids never did make me breakfast in bed--it's not something I like. I did hear from moms who enjoyed it, though--and I emphasize the past tense!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Lynn's Comments: One of my Mom's tastiest recipes was for a cherry loaf cake. Unable to resist maraschino cherries, I would pull out the ones closest to the surface, leaving "mouse holes" in the cake as it sat on the counter to cool. I remember my mom being pretty irate by my inconsiderate attack on her baking, but I regarded it as a compliment--an honest display of appreciation. Her "punishment" one day, was to make me bake the same cake on my own to see how much work it was. When it came out of the oven, it was beautiful. I was so proud of having made my favourite cake; I couldn't wait for my dad to see it. When he came in after work, I led him straight to the kitchen and discovered that my mother had picked all the visible cherries out of it.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When this strip was released, I received a number of letters from women, mostly, saying that they too wanted bathtub faucets you could turn off with your feet. Whenever I travelled, people would comment on strips like this one and they would immediately start to tell me some intimate truth, some personal thing you would never tell a stranger! I heard about people's sleep habits, their food preferences, their parenting tips, their illnesses. They told me other things, too; about their fears and failures, their marriages, divorces, and family backgrounds. It was as if I had become a familiar friend who would always listen, be supportive, caring, and discreet. This kind of trust is something I will always cherish--it's the best part of having done a family's story with a bitter-sweet style.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Lynn's Comments: In reality, Rod and I had a very different kind of wedding. It was his first; my second, and we both wanted a small, private ceremony. Neither Rod's nor my parents could attend, so our friend, Marjorie Baskin, suggested we use the living room in her house--as her husband, Rabbi Baskin, was going to do the honours. She made us a cake. My brother and a few good friends were there. It was a beautiful service--a combination of Christian and Jewish ritual, which concluded with the breaking of a wine glass. It was a sunny afternoon and friends were looking after Aaron who, at the age of two, was not likely to sit still. After a celebratory drink and a piece of Marge's cake we went to pick him up. Aaron wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew our lives had changed. I picked him up and as he gave me a hug, he said, "I've now got a mom and a Rod!" This, as much as the ceremony, made us a family!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Lynn's Comments: It was hard to imagine my parents as children. To me, they had been born old and were just getting older. When they talked about days gone by, the photographs they turned to were black and white. Our world was in colour. What they talked about was hard to relate to. It was more like hearing a story than a real event.
Maybe it's because they had too much to do to enjoy the kind of childhood we had--they both grew up during the depression and had to work in order to help their families survive. Neither of my parents had the luxury of going to college or university. They learned from books and through experience, and were intellectuals in their own right.
I hoped that my kids would relate to my stories, but life changes so much between generations that Aaron and Katie probably listened with an attitude much like mine had been: "If you really were a kid at one time...why don't you understand kids NOW?"
Maybe it's because they had too much to do to enjoy the kind of childhood we had--they both grew up during the depression and had to work in order to help their families survive. Neither of my parents had the luxury of going to college or university. They learned from books and through experience, and were intellectuals in their own right.
I hoped that my kids would relate to my stories, but life changes so much between generations that Aaron and Katie probably listened with an attitude much like mine had been: "If you really were a kid at one time...why don't you understand kids NOW?"
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Sometimes a friend would tell me something that was so perfect for a comic strip that I couldn't wait to go home and draw it up. My friend, Loretta, was a wonderful cook. She often had friends over for dinner and was always well prepared ahead of time. In our small northern town, certain fruits and vegetables were hard to come by, so when a shipment of fresh food arrived, we all got into cooking mode.
Loretta had filled her fridge in preparation for a neighbourhood get-together but had forgotten to remind her family that the food was for company. By the time she discovered their scavenging, it was too late to replace the groceries. When she told me what had happened, I remember laughing so hard that I couldn't catch my breath. A few weeks later ... the same thing happened at MY place!
Loretta had filled her fridge in preparation for a neighbourhood get-together but had forgotten to remind her family that the food was for company. By the time she discovered their scavenging, it was too late to replace the groceries. When she told me what had happened, I remember laughing so hard that I couldn't catch my breath. A few weeks later ... the same thing happened at MY place!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Strips about littering were always well received. This one was made into a poster and was put up at a lake in Saskatchewan. It was also a limited edition print, which was given to volunteers who helped to clean up local beaches.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Here's an example of where I redrew the last panel for republication. If I suggested that spanking was a disciplinary tactic in our home, I got mail. Rarely did things get so out of hand! There were times, however, when a swat happened and was more of a blow to the ego than a sting on the behind. Still, any "violent" image was seriously frowned upon by my readers--who in the crafted and edited world of cartoons, preferred clever commentary to a loss of control.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: What I wanted to say here, was--Michael had a kind heart. He wanted to cheer up an elderly neighbour, but was embarrassed by his own actions and played down the gift by saying the flowers were something his mother wanted to get rid of. I don't think the punch line worked too well and this strip sort of missed the mark. Sometimes the hardest thing about describing a situation like this is...well, describing a situation like this!!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Yes, this was another opportunity for readers to reprimand me for not being a responsible dog owner. Still, one has to wonder: even with all of their good intentions, did these people never have something like this happen? "He who is without sin," and all that? I always wanted to say, "Folks, it's a cartoon dog!" When you make a published statement every day, and you tell it like it is...be prepared to be told off!
I would envy the guys who disappeared into their workshops to "get stuff done". It was hard to deny them the time they spent over an oily valve or a piece of lumber or a broken pipe. This was, after all, essential to the household maintenance. The cool, quiet ambience of the workshop was a perfect place to spend an afternoon. Guys dropping by to give advice or lend a hand were welcome. They'd lean comfortably against the doorframe, chewing the fat, and hoping for a beer to materialize. Sometimes they even got sandwiches and cake! It might take a day to fix a gadget or repair a hose--time well spent according to the men folk, but... an entire day?!!
Some of my friends had hunter/fishermen in the family and when the weekend came, their men folk would go off to the call of the wild. The women kept the home fires burning and the small fry in line. When we came into contact with each other, we'd compare notes about the absent spouses. What did the guys REALLY do while we held down the fort? Mystery loves company. So, while I went along with the social flow, I resented it as well. Situations like this found their way into For Better or For Worse and I was always comforted by the responses from other moms who said, "That happens at OUR house, too!" It was wonderful to know I wasn't alone.