Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for April 03, 2015

Don’t frown Arlo….you got major points for the offer!

Shades of Mark Twain – Huckleberry Finn and fence painting.

She’s an idiot….

Tom Sawyer doesn’t have to paint the fence or dig the garden today.

Something tells me Arlo knew she would say that or he wouldn’t have made the offer.

Janis will really appreciate that massage tonight. Well played, Arlo.

Catepillar D9 would be easier.

She is dumb like a FOX !!

The whole story is short a panel. The last scene is from ten minutes later. Note the moves here, the example of what she can accomplish after years of study. She begins digging with an inadequate tool. He sees it, feels bad, and offers to use the shovel. She pulls ahead in the race by declining, knowing that he won’t be able to stand watching her dig with the trowel. He digs it with the shovel, but remember, she didn’t actually ask.

clever gal!

There’s been an awful lot of over thinking here. Arlo obviously cares to be involved with his wife’s activities. I’d like to think they’ll both enjoy cleaning up together as well. :-))

Rent a roto-tiller….

I get a different story. I think he wanted to have fun also, and they both ended up digging together.

Check out this tiller. http://www.troybilt.com/equipment/troybilt/tillers/bronco-axis-garden-tiller-bronco-axis-vtt?gclid=CjwKEAjw9PioBRDdpqy0-ofG3DgSJAACe5NEoJmVIMeV_qipZzs-EVHwnutWGucBKeF9-U568a-gUBoCNFTw_wcB

Maybe she does like to do it this way. I used to, when I wasn’t living in an apartment and actually had a yard to plant flowers in. Arlo wants to help, or is looking for her to give him an “out”. She’s making holes in the grass. Maybe she’s planting bulbs to “naturalize” the yard. I did that too but it is hard to mow around and keep the grass clipped between the leaves once the plants come up.

Edge, thank you for your concern, but there is no angst here, We’re all going to die horribly or we’re not…Who cares? But it would be smarter to use the bigger shovel…And if Janis doesn’t understand that, well……….She could plant the flowers or vegies faster, and isn’t that the point of the effort? OK, maybe she’s not an idiot….She’s just unsmart….

OK, I’ll giver a simple stupid….

Thats a great way to get Arlo to do some work… pretending you dont want him to. =)

You are all missing the point. What is the name of the Book? Curious what genre and author and book title is in play. Some books just don’t hold the attention. Life is about difficult choices. But it was great of Arlo to assist.

We all need a certain amount of exercise. .Janis is exercising in a way she enjoys..There are more efficient means of producing vegetables, but that doesn’t mean they are more efficient at giving Janis a pleasurable workout..I need to poke some seeds into the ground in the next day or so. I don’t need anything I grow, tend to just give it away.Very inefficient.Enjoyable

l’m looking forward to using a ☞TROWEL☜ this weekend before going to Wisconsin next week. I want to plant a few shriveled potatoes that have sprouted bunches of green leaves, plus some sweet potatoes that have reddish limbs sprouting from them. They are sitting near the sink and I give them a splash of water now and then, but I don’t think they’ll survive the month or so I’m gone, unless planted. I suppose a hoe or shovel would be more effective, but I don’t WANT to use anything but a ☞TROWEL☜. Call me stupid, an idiot, very inefficient, or anything you want, but I ENJOY using ☞TROWELs☜. OK?

I’ve gotten my husband to do plenty of things by starting them myself and he’ll take over whatever I’m doing. I just smile to myself. I will also suggest something I want to do or buy and then drop the subject. A few days or weeks later he thinks it was his idea and it gets done. No need to nag. Who’s stupid now Varnes? Also after gardening together they can take a nice shower and wash the dirt off each other!

This is one of those “slice of life” Arlo strips that isn’t actually intended to be funny. It’s a bleak and minimalist little scene with a touch of Ingmar Bergman.

The wife is digging a hole. Husband offers to help, but wife says she’s fine. End of story. The camera pans pointlessly back to the chair he vacated (and we learn that — big reveal — what he was enjoying doing was reading a book and drinking lemonade). That’s the whole story.

There is no indication given as to whether Arlo did help her after all, or went back to his reading, or perhaps stuck his shovel in the ground, had a heart attack, and they are rushing to the hospital as the lemonade grows warm. It’s a bit like The Sopranos final scene. Fade to black.