Author: dickevans

As is our custom in the Senior Breakfast group at Big Boy, talk drifted to the subject of the challenges of growing old.  In a nutshell, we all have noticed the increase in the gravitational pull  of the Earth on our bodies.  Any time for any reason we choose to go to a lower level for anything, it’s getting harder to get back up.

One couple was talking about the challenge of their Grandson’s Kindergarten Open House for parents and grandparents.  Have you been to a Kindergarten classroom recently?  It appears the school system didn’t pay enough for good quality furniture and everything has shrunk over time!

Bean bag chairs present a special challenge for those of us fighting gravity.  They don’t have any solid surface to grab to help us regain the “higher ground”.  The couple in question had decided that maybe this year would be a good year to decline the privilege of sitting in their grandson’s favorite bean bag chair and opt to stand nearby and let him demonstrate how he used it in reading time.  That was when I envisioned the perfect solution to the problem… a hoist!

Now, as I look at the drawing from a practical viewpoint, I  realize my idea had one major flaw… no motor for the hoist!  Gravity is increasing at such a rapid rate our power naps can’t create enough energy to overcome it!

I got this idea watching one of those Police shows on TV.  As is the normal procedure for a person captured and accused of the crime, the suspect said, “I was framed!”  Earlier that day, I had stopped at a stop-light in town (always a good idea!)  and happened to be looking directly at a frame shop… for pictures, etc.  My sub-conscious or whatever is the blame for my ideas, did the rest.  It gave me a new perspective on the saying.  We’ve all had those moments where we are entering a situation that we know is stacked against us… The “Suitable for Framing” moment.  As I said in another post, you only have one real option that might work… “Blame it on the Dog!”

The dog did it… He ate my homework.  He spilled the milk.   He tracked in the mud.  He tipped over the ……. fill in the blank.

Dogs take the blame for everything.  It’s one of those “go with the percentages” kind of deals.  Chances are, the dog DID do it.  Not because they meant to, of course.  They were around and chances are….

Anyone who lives in a neighborhood with raccoons knows it probably wasn’t the dog.  He just got the blame for mischief done by a raccoon.  Raccoons are sneaky and have the skill of a locksmith… Or, a surgeon, depending on the job skill required.

This is a drawing I did for a Children’s book I’m illustrating for a friend of mine.  After I did the drawing, my cartoon mind kicked in and I had to add the caption.  Doesn’t he, or actually SHE (the raccoon in the story is called “Dottie”) look like she’s snitching on someone?  Has to be the dog.  Blame the dog and you’re off the hook without a question.  Even if the dog has an alibi… like, “I was inside the house all night, sleeping on your bed for Pete’s sake!”  Doesn’t matter… his reputation proceeded him.  GUILTY as charged!

That’s why we call him “MAN’S BEST FRIEND”… He takes the blame and still loves you!  Now, if we could teach him how to take out the garbage instead of getting into it, we’d have a perfect world.

Golf can become an obsession…  Ask any golfer.  They also will agree (usually) that no matter how poorly they played on any given day, it still beats working!

I drew this cartoon for  a long-time associate that always wore a bow-tie to work.  I never saw him without it.  He worked in a different department and my normal contact with him was in meetings and an occasional chance encounter in the hallways.  When I became an agent for State Farm, he was the supervisor of the Auto Underwriting department that reviewed, accepted or rejected my applications for clients to purchase auto insurance.

Over the many years I dealt with him, he was always in good humor and I don’t know if I ever saw the same bow-tie twice.  I learned he was an avid golfer and preferred to walk the municipal courses he played.  When I heard he was retiring, I drew this cartoon and had it put on stationery for him.  I could imagine him strolling to the first tee with the Sun rising, whistling as he anticipated another good day at the course.  Whenever I see this cartoon, I am reminded of the feelings  a golfer has approaching the first tee.  Filled with anticipation, excitement and hope for a good round.  But the best part?…  Not going to work!

This cartoon idea came from a conversation between Senior Citizens at the Big Boy restaurant.  It all started when someone said, “As I get older, everything takes longer… even naps!” 

That prompted  one of the wives to tell a story about her husband’s favorite place to nap… the porch swing.  She said he always falls asleep with his mouth open and head leaning backwards at an uncomfortable angle.  Last week, on a particularly warm sunny day, he fell asleep in bright sunlight.  The thought occurred to her that he might get his tongue sunburned.

I couldn’t let it go… I had to draw it!  The next day, when I showed it to them, the conversation then shifted to the possibility of bugs landing in the open mouth.  You know… You really ought to join us for breakfast at Big Boy.  We talk about some really important stuff!