Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for July 29, 2009

Because you’re much too young…

I will stick with Calvin, BTW, he did bring Hobbes.

step by step. Calvin, no rush!

annd, weird thing is : Mom’s quite quiet this time?

oh, I got it! Calvin said it all for Mom already! or she just agreed with Dad’s good-for-the-growing-of-kid idea?

I think Mom likes camping…as long as it is nice out.

My grandfather who was an outdoorsman died right before I was born. My younger cousin and I have always felt we missed out on a lot by not knowing him. And I’m still not a camper.

It may be because BW’s father was just like this (according to his own testimony) and he wanted to have the dialog focus on the fact.

Is Dad right when he says it builds character ? It seems it only made Calvin grumpy.

Calvin’s got great expectations.

If I was Calvin, I’d be grumpy too! I don’t see any gear in the canoe. I guess Mom is gonna forage for food while Dad constructs shelter from the indigenous materials.

Ok, now revealed that it is not the burglary thread (as wicky stated, Calvin brought Hobbes–where in the burglary thread Hobbes stayed home).

For Al, probably not–she’s just resigned to her husband’s love of camping (but it seems that she’s never been clear on the concept of “you boys go camping, I’ll stay home”).

Calvin, this is a lot cheaper than the casino version of “character-building”

Just once in a while it would have been nice to see Calvins dad be kind ……kind of a d-bag.

Nono, Calvin’s dad is a grown-up Calvin. Where do you think Calvin gets it? Dad’s just as feverishly devoted to his own version of reality; he just has a different taste in reality from Calvin’s.

This is probably their big summer vacation so that’s why Mom is going too. My Dad would get a couple weeks vacation at Christmas and a couple weeks in the summer. Our idea of camping was rent a camp with no television or phone and twice with an outhouse. On the way we got two weeks of groceries so we didn’t have to leave camp. It helped them unwind by cutting themselves off from the outside world. We all went swimming and Dad and I would get up before the sun, to take the boat out on the lake to catch fish for dinner. It kept me close with my parents. My Dad died when I was 18 so I’m glad we had those summer memories.

I’ll take the condo but not the casino. Somewhere to swim would be nice. And nice restaurants and stores!

Thanks for sharing your memory of your dad Dino. It’s great you have such nice memories. I’m sorry he died while you were still so young.

Kids today don’t want to build “character”… None of their idols or leaders have any. The don’t even know what “character” means. They just want shiny STUFF and to be surrounded by other brainless twits who are just like them. An entire culture populated by lazy, characterless idiots. I’ve really got to start putting more effort into my Hindi and Mandarin… अलविदा and 再见

Holidays are saved, Hobbes is there!

I’ll bet Hobbes is enjoying the call of the wild. Hopefully he and Calvin will be alone at sometime during the vacation so he can set Calvin straight about the experience.

Oh Calvin, I understand you so well, although I would rather go to a SPA myself…

My cousin took his two daughters on a week long canoe trip at Bowrin Lake Provincial Park in BC. It poured rain every day and their camping gear was always damp. Neither daughter has gone camping since.

It scares me whenever I agree with Calvin, as I do today.

Calvin’s mom doesn’t say anything because she has already been through it with Dad. She knows there’s no arguing so she leaves it alone.

my first camping experience was as an (almost) 11 year old, with a small group of classmates and a large group of the teacher’s family members. we had canoe and kayak rides in the river, hikes up to where there was a store on a lake above a dam to buy snacks and firecrackers, all sorts of experiences for four days. i don’t camp now, but still have wonderful memories of having done so.

Calvin, you cannot go in the casino somewhere because you are not over 21 years old.

I was going to write this out myself, but @Macush said it all for me: “Thanks for sharing your memory of your dad Dino. It’s great you have such nice memories. I’m sorry he died while you were still so young.”

I know of a cabin where people go to get away from it all. It has a full bathroom and a dishwasher but the TV only plays tapes and CDs. Too bad there is a telephone.

Well, it did build character … in Calvin over the course of another year … after that last camping trip. Now we get to see what lays in wait for him this trip. Maybe Calvin will garner lots of new wild fantasies from this foray into nature. I know I always seemed to when I was his age when our family went camping.

this is the way to camp, too many people now take those greyhound bus sized campers with electric generators and satellite dishes and all the comforts of home to me that is NOT camping

hope they are not heading for the falls! :-)

What a quiet, peaceful and serene setting….. Waaay too quiet, peaceful and serene, huh Calvin?

ugh, poor calvin…….i hate camping :P

Hobbes did come so it wont be too boring

Went camping on our honeymoon. Rained every day; tent leaked. We’re still married and still enjoy camping 40 years later.

Calvin’s dad wouldn’t let him help start a campfire i’m sure all the animals in the forest apprieciated that.

I camped all summer in Alaska next to a canney - 25 years ago - ate salmon cooked over an open campfire every day. Today - I still love to camp but hate salmon. The camping built character, the salmon gave me heartburn.

Calvinator, you hate the salmon becuz it made you having a heartburn! Hogwash! I love salmon to eat and never have a heartburn at all.

We didn’t camp much as a family, but we were all scouters, both boy- and girl-. Had a lot of fun on those campouts.

Stede_Bonnet said, about 15 hours ago

Kids today don’t want to build “character”… None of their idols or leaders have any. The don’t even know what “character” means. They just want shiny STUFF and to be surrounded by other brainless twits who are just like them. An entire culture populated by lazy, characterless idiots. I’ve really got to start putting more effort into my Hindi and Mandarin… अलविदा and 再见

If that is the case Stede, it is because that is what their parents taught them. children do not come pre-programmed.

你好JonD17! 我在学德语，呵呵o(∩_∩)o…

JonD17 said, about 9 hours ago

If that is the case Stede, it is because that is what their parents taught them. children do not come pre-programmed.

And where is the comfort in that? Lazy, characterless idiot parents programming lazy, characterless idiot children. As I indicated, it is the entire “culture” which is in decline. No one wants to work. No wants to excel. No one is willing in incur the slightest bit of discomfort in pursuit of a goal. They all just want to sit around in front of a CRT and be spoon fed everything.

Ivy0730Lcsq certainly caught on quickly… but predictably, he’s German, not American.

because they dont want him to have fun while building character

Calvin hitting a casino? Now there’s a disaster waiting to happen!

Calvin has at least half a point here…