So ... do cartoonists get vacations?

 

Yes, and they’re lots of fun. Filled with family, friends, sheep and the occasional interference from Interpol. This year, I made a concerted effort to learn to surf. I think I had equipment problems. (See picture above.) Because every time I tried to stand up, the board would do funny things. Or the wind was coming from an odd direction. Or the tides were changing just at that moment. Or dolphins were making distracting comments. (Boy, use someone’s blowhole as a cup holder just once in your life and those animals never forget.)

 

But the week before you go and the weeks you come back are pure hell. You have to double up your output in all sorts of ways. And as fate would have it, I had 48 cartoons due to the syndicate a day after I got back. That really meant I had 48 cartoons to be pretty much finished and prepared the day before I left. Of course, there’s drawing while you’re on vacation. That’s OK. I could get used to drawing for a few hours overlooking the ocean. Problem is, there’s no ocean in my normal backyard. Something to do with local zoning laws I suppose.

 

This was particularly interesting week because in the middle, we had to take a break and bundle our eldest daughter off to South Africa. She’ll be studying a semester at the University of Cape Town. So my first three days were a mixture of joy at getting to spend time with her mixed with anxiety about her adventure. We drove form North Carolina’s Outer Banks to Norfolk. She then flew Norfolk to Atlanta, Atlanta to Senegal, Senegal to Cape Town. A nice neat 19 hours later, she was there. We made arrangements to both look across the ocean and wave to each other at an appointed time.

 

So, if you’ve wandered by here wondering when the hell I was ever going to post again, now you know. It took me a week just to dig out. But dug I am. And refreshed. And the brain is clear.

 

Hopefully, it will show up in Loose Parts for weeks to come.

 

Hey, only 50 weeks till next year’s vacation. Cool.

 

Till then. Stay Loose.

 

 

dave