They Show Up Every Year (Like Mosquitoes)

9 Responses to They Show Up Every Year (Like Mosquitoes)

1. George Boardman says:

   May 20, 2014 at 2:05 pm

   On the other hand, I could always spot a rube in the Bay Area during summer time. They were the people with sun burn on the roofs of their mouths.

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2. Chris Peterson says:

   May 20, 2014 at 3:30 pm

   I always wanted a t-shirt that said on the front “Behind every tourist” and on the back it would say, “is ten angry locals.” With a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Schlemling pulling their 40′ trailer through the mountains with twenty angry local motorists behind them doing ten mph.

   And I remember taking my then brother-in-law from Livermore to Edwards one day. When we saw a beer can bobbing along the bottom of the stream, he jumped up, dove down, and came up smiling, holding the beer can above his head for all to see. As soon as I gave him the thumbs-up, he turned and through it in the rocks on the far bank.

   I’ll take the country rube any day.

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   • Chris Peterson says:

     May 20, 2014 at 3:33 pm

     Through, thru, threw, throo? Ah well.

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   • George Boardmann says:

     May 21, 2014 at 6:26 pm

     Is that why you live in Portland? I thought that is where 20-somethings go to retire.

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     • Chris Peterson says:

       May 22, 2014 at 6:29 am

       As I look at the mighty Columbia River in the valley below, I can see Portland in the distance. It’s close enough for a ballgame or concert, but usually just a nightly glow to the south. Portland is different, in that it’s not really that big of a city to begin with, and you can live just outside of it and be in the great NW forests. It’s not like SF, or LA, or Sac, where you hit urban sprawl 40 miles from the city limits. And even inside the city limits, you get the feeling you’re not quite there; what with more park area than any other city in the US. Search parties are actually sent out, now and then, for lost folks who are nowhere near any buildings.

       And that’s just fine with me because, although I am retired, we haven’t found any condos in the Pearl District that have room for the horses, pigs, cattle, chickens, dogs, cats and fish here on our farm.

       God knows we get our share of rain, (which might not be sounding all that bad from a CA perspective, right now), but it seems to keep them from paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.

       And, “Keep Portland Weird.” Believe me; there’s that.

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       • George Boardman says:

         May 22, 2014 at 9:51 am

         My daughter owns a condo two blocks from the Rose Garden (although I understand it’s no longer called the Rose Garden), but she spent the last two years in California and is now teaching in Beijing. But I think she likes the idea of maybe going back to Portland some day.

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         • Chris Peterson says:

           May 22, 2014 at 11:22 am

           I have a good friend who owns Chris King Cycle Group, and goes to China with his Chinese wife quite often. I could have them drop in; I know it’s always nice to see ‘Mericans when you’re a stranger in a strange land, no matter how much you’re enjoying it. They’ve invited my wife and I to tag along in Oct., but that means hiring someone to feed the livestock here, etc., etc.
           If we go, I’ll definitely ask about that address.
           Cheers.
       • Greg Goodknight says:

         May 22, 2014 at 12:34 pm

         Who could forget this classic photo of that famous Portland art lover, Mayor Bud Clark:

         http://www.errolgraphics.com/pages/expose.php

         Reply
3. Bonnie McGuire says:

   May 20, 2014 at 4:33 pm

   Really cute cartoon Bob.

   Reply