Fly! Be free!

Actually I'd prefer this to be free-range squash. Yuk!

Keep those wagons rollin'

This is one of my favorites in the Explore Provo strips. The road work on University Avenue was done in rolling four block sections, and each block was at a different stage of construction. When one was complete, the crews moved on to the next one. They got so good at the process that the project was ahead of schedule and under budget. The project was extended another mile and still was within the budget and time frame.

What I like about this cartoon is that it sums up the project in a single strip. That's just how it worked.

Sale!

The sidewalk sale during the construction was kind of cool. All the merchants had their goods outside right next to the road work. It was like a show along with the sale!

Trails

This gag didn't work quite as well in the original sketch when it was the Mormon Trail instead.

Back in the days of stamps

As I was going through some of my files looking for old pioneer-themed cartoons, I ran across this old 121 strip. Nowadays the message would come via text or Facebook. The whole letter -- even e-mail -- thing is so last century!

Monday sketchbook: United as one

At the castle in Carcassone in France there is a museum dedicated to instruments of torture. It's kind of creepy. One thing that caught my eye was near the entrance. There they have a two-seater yoke. I don't know if it's designed that way for tourists to take photos, but I wondered what its purpose would be. Why yoke two people together? Then it came to me.

2 kewl 4 u!

Which brings up the question I've been wondering -- Nephi: Blackberry or iPhone?

Happy Pioneer Day!

I suppose this is a bigger dilemma in some missions more than others.

Topped off with some Ben and Jerry's, perhaps?

All holidays have their special foods that are associated with them, right? Turkey for Thanksgiving, corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day...why not cricket cake for Pioneer Day?!

Fewer bars in fewer places

A couple of years ago our stake sponsored a pioneer trek. One of the biggest complaints from my kids was that they couldn't take along their Game Boys. Oh, the humanity!

Hors d'ouvres

See, there are always bugs at picnics, right? And the cliche is that the bugs at picnics are usually ants. But these are crickets! Crickets that devour everything in sight! Including potato salad!

Draggin'

It was all part of what they had to endure...

Monday Sketchbook: Wagons, ho!

How many of the early immigrants had any experience at all driving wagons, I wonder? I'm sure some had way more experience than others. Of course, by the time they made it out west they were all experts!

Then there's me, who can't even make it to Council Bluffs in Oregon Trail...good thing I wasn't born back then!

Grimm family history

I'm sure the family histories for fairy tale families would be quite interesting indeed!

Run, Joseph, Run!

Joseph is cool.

Tour de Bonko

July is full of traditions!

Besides Independence Day, Bastille Day, Pioneer Day and birthdays, it's also the month of the Tour de France. So once again in the name of tradition, we present a page from the adventures of that dynamic duo, Biko Gecko and Bonko. Biko follows the rules of safe cycling; Bonko does not. That's Bonko you see flying over his handlebars.

B&B were created at the Utah Department of Transportation to help teach about bicycle safety. Unfortunately, our funding dried up before we could go to press. As a result, the complete coloring/activity book was never published, but it has been photocopied several times.

I chose this particular illustration because there have been a ton of crashes in the first few stages of the Tour this year. One was caused not by an open door, but by a dog running into the pack.

Remember, be safe as you bike. Watch out for open doors. And dogs.

Everything's better down where it's wetter

My original sketch of this was, shall we say, a little more graphic.

Happy Bastille Day!

In honor of Bastille Day, here's another cartoon from our trip to France earlier this year. It's based on an actual event, just a different location.

Our group was touring the Louvre one afternoon. After about an hour, a couple of the kids were done. They'd seen everything they wanted to see in the Louvre, the world's greatest repository of art with thousands upon thousands of priceless pieces. It boggled my mind to think that I was rushing past hundreds of pieces of masterworks just to catch the highlights.

The one who was the most vocal about being done with the Louvre, ironically, wants to be an artist when she grows up. Righhht.

Who can find a virtuous woman?

As per tradition, every July 13 we bring you a snippet of the story of Ruth. This year we see the wedding of Ruth and Boaz.

See, it's my mother-in-law's birthday, and her story is similar to that of Ruth. And just a couple of weeks ago she attended her son's wedding...which just happened to be in Alexandria, Egypt, complete with belly dancers, camels and Bedouins stealing the wedding cake (really!).

So happy birthday, mummy dearest!

Monday sketchbook: Faith in every driveway

July brings the annual celebration of Pioneer Day! These days we don't just celebrate the pioneers of the Nineteenth Century, we celebrate those today who are also pioneers in their country, community or family.

Modern pioneers, we salute you!

It's glorious and bright!

OK, this is kinda silly...but I like it!

Rock stars

The Articles of Faith describe what we as Mormons believe. The sixth reads: "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."

Now, I know that the term "Primitive Church" refers to the church that Christ organized when he was on the earth. But as a kid, I thought of things a little more primitive.

Meep! Meep!

I can't vouch that it's totally true, but I don't remember ever seeing any road equipment that was manufactured by Acme.

With a bang and a boom!

One of the best forms of entertainment back in the old days, my dad told me, was watching the thunderstorms form in the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon during the summer. The sky would turn dark, then there would be flashes of light, and then one could hear the rumbles of thunder echoing through the canyon.

Thunder is cool. I love how it booms and shakes. And lets you know you're still alive!

The boys of summer

Always remember: warm up first!

Mmm, mmm, good!

Have you ever looked at some of the stuff those workers pack away in their lunches? Man, those guys know how to eat! I guess doing a lot of manual labor in all kinds of weather tends to build an appetite (says the guy who sits in an office and pushes electrons across the screen all day!). That's one of the cool things about working with highway crews -- they know the best places to eat no matter where you are.

Monday sketchbook: RIP, Mr. Friberg

This last week marked the passing of famed artist and illustrator Arnold Friberg, probably best known for his paintings based on the Book of Mormon. Mr. Friberg depicted the people in the Book of Mormon as very strong and muscular, particularly the prophets.

In some copies of the Book of Mormon, his paintings were interspersed with the text. They often became a milestone for measuring how far one had read: "I'm almost to the Abinadi picture" or "I just passed Samuel the Lamanite." Recent editions no longer include his artwork, but his work is well known amongst Sunday school students the world over.

• My fellow Mormon cartoonist Arie Van De Graaff has posted his tribute to Arnold Friberg here.

One if by land, two if by sea...

So would they call the missionaries "black coats"?

Who remembers that famous day and year?

Shine on

So, I ask myself, is this something I'm going to see on sale at Deseret Book with a cutout to insert your child's photo here? Hmmm. I wonder.

Oh! Canada!

Happy Canada Day!

When I was about eight years old, our family took a summer vacation trip to Canada to visit our relatives in Alberta. My mom, who was Canadian, always told my brother and me the stories of how cold it was up north and how much snow they had.

Well, being eight years old, I expected to see a wall of ice and snow running along the border. Forget that it was August! Canada was supposed to be cold!

I was disappointed that all there was at the border was a guy in a booth with the ol' Maple Leaf flag waving over it. No lumberjacks. No beavers. No glacier.

However, during our stay in Waterton National Park (just over the border from Glacier) it snowed. Not much. But enough to convince me that my mom's stories were true!

Happy Canada Day, eh!