Vacation

Just back from a week's vacation in Maine. Did all the usual stuff--read a couple of books, swam, visited with family, went shopping, watched the sun set--but with a stomach ache most of the week. Some days were awful---an actual ache that I always noticed, and nausea a few times; and one time I became very sad as I tried to nap up in my room and heard the extended family laughing and splashing down on the lake---but most days, it was just a low-grade ache that kept me subdued but not stopped. I like to have a drink or two on vacation, maybe more than usual, but there were only two glasses of wine for this guy the whole week because of the 'ache. And the whoopie pies that are famous in our family, which we buy daily from the bakery down the street...only a couple the whole week. Very little coffee, even though I love a good cup out on the deck overlooking a pristine scene. I would've liked to at least come home having lost a few pounds---I didn't eat much---but I only lost one.

Yet I still had a great time. Yes, I didn't swim much, and was a lot quieter than I usually am, but just being with all the brothers- and sisters-in-laws, and nieces and nephews, and folks-in-law, as well as my wife and kids and their significant others, is always a treat. You see, there were twenty-seven of us in one big house last week. We do this every year. And we enjoy each other's company the whole time---or close to it. If I was too weak to dive off the dock, there were kids who weren't, and I was glad to just be there with them. If I couldn't have a drink, I could visit with my sister-in-law who was a little loopy and a lot of fun. And if I was quietly reading a book, I could do that on the shore, in the shade, with an in-law or two doing the same in a chair beside me.

The one day I felt fine, I got a little more active, but was a little "iffy" by evening. But what if I'd been home working during my illness? Would it have been bearable? QlownTown might've missed a few days, because I wouldn't have been up to sitting up at the drawing table or computer for hours. So, while I wouldn't recommend being sick on vacation, there are worse things.

We started doing this big family-week-at-the-beach-or-lake about twenty years ago, but I was sick the first couple of years. Bronchitics one year; pneumonia the next. I began to think I'd never go on vacation with the family without being sick, but then I went all those years till now feeling fine. My plan is to never be sick again. The law of averages is in my favor.

I did accomplish some stuff: my nephew Jake showed me a book of cartoons from the Perry Bible Fellowship, a very offbeat strip. (Warning: a number of the cartoons are R-rated.) What I loved about the strips is that they almost always have an unexpected twist on what you expect. I choose not to go in an R-rated direction with QlownTown, but I hope I can back to more of the offbeat, Far Side type stuff I enjoy so much. I wrote down a few ideas, and will try to move some of the puns to a later date and incorporate these new ideas over the next few weeks. It re-energized me.

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An order came in while I was away for a print of one of last week's cartoons. I went to get it ready to send to the printer, and realized that I hadn't thought about what size the new square panel would be when people bought prints. I decided to center it on an 11" x 14" page. I still haven't decided if I'll stick with the square format, or if I'll go back to the strip, or if I'll just do whatever I want each day. Consistency is a good thing, I guess, but why not just use the format that serves your purpose best each time?

I'm still working on a new project that would be very cool, but that's still a few months off. For now, though, QlownTown is exciting me again. I'm feeling upbeat. I'm even going to try a piece of the blueberry pie that I brought home from the bakery. It may rile my stomach, but I'm getting used to that now, anyway. Maybe it'll give the comic a slightly darker edge, although I'd prefer that if that's going to happen, it happens because I decide to---not because I'm in pain.

By the way: yes, I called the doctor's office. She said it's probably just a bug that's going around. It's been nine days, but I'll give it a few more and see if it goes away. (High co-pays are a good incentive not to overburden the doctor.)