Keep your distance

As this is the week of Independence Day in the United States, I've been thinking about symbols of the Revolutionary War.

One of the most famous is the Gadsden flag — often referred to as the "Don't Tread On Me" flag. It was a flag used by the Continental Marines, and it has its roots in a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.

The symbol has been co-opted by several groups over the years, and in some contexts can be considered offensive or even racist.

It's not meant to be any of that here. It's just a reminder to wear your mask.

Sketchbook: Church and state

When the days blend together, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

Line upon line upon line

You've gotta be careful when you wear those masks!

Fill the bowl

Sometimes the easiest way to get through the day is to keep doing the little things. 

Supply and demand

Remember those old Mervyn's commercials where the gal would stand outside the closed store saying, "Open! Open! Open!"

There's been a lot of family history work done while we've been sheltering in place. With the temples mostly closed, nobody's been able to get in to do any temple work.

When they finally do open to proxy work, there are going to be a lot of people ready to go!

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Office days

Even though a lot of restrictions have been lifted, a lot of people are opting to keep working from home. I wonder why that is?

Sketchbook: An accounting

It's nice to start getting back to some normal operations at church. We're still a ways out from holding sacrament meetings, but at least we don't have to do everything by Zoom anymore!

Every dad has his day

There were dinosaurs in the '70s and '80s, weren't there?

Happy Father's Day!

No time like the present

He's open 24/7!

Siblings: the nursery strikes back

I realized as I was coloring this that it's been a long time since I drew a cartoon that was set inside the church! And not only is this inside a church building, neither one of them is wearing a mask!

It's weird that that seems weird.

Troubles

That's what seems to get me into trouble, too!

Days I'll always treasure

Oh, I certainly hope not!

Sketchbook: When a choice is placed before you

When I sketched this out, my thought was that left was opposite of right. But as I looked at it a second time, it occurred to me that some folks could misconstrue this as a political message.

Personally, I feel like the world has plenty of controversy in it right now, thank you very much! So this one is staying in the sketchbook!

Missionary attire

Some of our local missionaries did a Facebook livestream the other night, and neither one of them was wearing a tie. I thought it was some sort of object lesson they were doing. No! They were piloting the updated missionary dress code! I think it's going to take a little getting used to...

Pomp and unusual circumstance

Congratulations to all the graduates of the Class of 2020! What a long, strange trip it's been!

Our local high school has tentatively scheduled some sort of graduation ceremony for sometime in August. By then, many student will be long gone to work, school or other commitments. How much interest there will be in going to a graduation ceremony is anybody's guess.

On one hand, I feel a little sorry for them — not having the big Pomp and Circumstance of a graduation ceremony in a packed auditorium. On the other hand, they don't have to go through a long graduation ceremony in a packed auditorium!

Clean hands, clean back, clean everything

This sounds like the kind of logic my kids would have used!

A light message

Some of our local sister missionaries livestreamed a lesson in which they used balloons to teach a series of object lessons. At first they were serious, but they got progressively sillier as the lesson went on. It was entertaining, and there was a good spirit in what they did.

The apartment sure was a mess when they were done, though!

Lift up your voice

One thing that has impressed me during the "church at home" time is the creative ways that people have fulfilled their callings.

I've heard of Primary classes that organized singing and sharing time for their kids. I've seen virtual firesides. Our stake president sends out video messages.

I just read about a Young Mens group that were scheduled to go camping last week. That was canceled, so they held a virtual campfire instead.

Let's keep up the good work!

Sketchbook: A little political sidenote

It's been all over the news: Black Lives Matter. It stirs up a lot of emotions and uncomfortable conversations.

One metaphor that I liked was this one: a lifeguard's job is to make sure everyone at the swimming pool is safe. If someone is in trouble, that's where the attention goes.

Right now, a lot of blacks feel like not only are they in trouble in the pool, the lifeguard is helping to hold them under water.

This ought not to be.

For me, one of my goals is that people can see themselves in my cartoons. I make a conscious effort to include different ethnicities, different hair colors and different skin tones in my characters (like Sunday included black, white and green!). I promise to do a better job of that. It's not a huge thing, but it's something I can do. Another thing that we can all do is listen — and act on what we hear.

There are lots of experiences I could share that have brought home the importance of this to me. And yes, everyone matters. But right now we have a group of our spiritual siblings who are asking for help. We can't ignore them.

My bottom line: I believe that we're all children of our Heavenly Father, and we'd all be better off if we treated each other like it!

And now, a word of thanks.

Cartoonist Rick Kirkman of Baby Blues fame came up with an idea to have cartoonists say thank you to the front line workers today. Cartoonists were asked to include six symbols to represent the people who have been on the front lines: a mask for medical professionals, a fork for food service workers, a shopping cart for grocers, an apple for teachers, a steering wheel for those in the transportation industry, and a microscope for the scientists and researchers trying to find a cure..

At the same time I got that news, I was studying in Come, Follow Me — about Alma and the mighty change of heart. Which evolved into this. It may be more of a Halloween-themed cartoon...but its heart is in the right place!

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven

We got word this week that plans are in place that we can begin to return to church for our sacrament meetings...soon. Maybe this month, maybe next. Or who knows?

At the same time, we also received the news that General Conference will be a virtual experience again in October. What an interesting world!

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Our cooking experiments while we were in lock down went pretty well for the most part. We found a great alfredo recipe, and we made some good breads and some good soups.

Don't ask about the deconstructed cabbage rolls. At least the bread was good!

Classy sounds

I have a friend whose kids are doing dance class via Zoom. I'm glad we're just doing French.

Follow the prophet. Really.

If y'all know Sis. Kerry Jo, you know she couldn't just sit quietly and let this pass. Everyone deserves respect — some people just don't know it yet!

Transformers: Optimus furniture

One thing about having church at home, it gives a reason to keep some places just a little bit cleaner.

Sketchbook: Making amends

There was a period between Alma the Younger's conversion and their missionary labors. The scriptures say they spend their time trying to cure the ills that they had done. How did they go about doing that?