For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for July 24, 2020

sure, Dan, sure… then the neighbors will complain of your partially painted sheds (and don’t you dare blame your nephew on this one)

LOL! He paints the way I do — reluctantly.

There are plenty of unpainted barns, silos, etc. in farm land. What matters is structural integrity, because lack of that gets people killed.. Nowadays you don’t paint your barn “barn red,” because subtler colors which blend into the skyline are the expectation.

Looking at the grain sheds, I can see the problem is not paint, but construction. The wood is warped on the sides, the roof, and the doors. They look like they are about to fall down. Who would even want grain that was stored there?

The funniest part of this comic strip is that Elly and John thought Michael was going to be under a bad influence working for Fiona Brass in the pool hall. Little did they know that the Uncle Danny would make Fiona Brass look honest in comparison. Dan doesn’t keep his farm property up to the point where the neighbours complain and his method of fixing the problem is to apply paint on his dilapidated buildings just on the side that his neighbours can see. Take note, Michael! These are valuable life lessons.

That’s kind of disturbing. Makes me wonder just what shady Dan is trying to hide from the neighbors.

Where’s the Mail Pouch man when you need him?

Appearances count for something, Michael. Best to practice on the farm.

From first impressions, Dan looks like he grew up during the 1960s. He might have been one of those peace loving flower children. So I sort of halfway expect to see psychedelic flowers and peace symbols painted on the side of his out buildings.

This guy speaks Michael’s language – same philosophy as when cleaning up his room.

Wait! They’re on a farm! What neigbours? And why would they care?

Good plan. Do something you don’t care about just enough to satisfy the people who do care.

A Potemkin village in Canada!

Lynn’s Comments:

From time to time, our whole family would go to the family farm in Manitoba to work and to visit…but mostly to work! One summer, I was asked to paint the wooden grain bins that were on the edge of the property. I was handed a paint sprayer, some red paint and a few rags.

Martha and Mom belong with Dan. Michael belongs at home where the important matters are.

Brings to mind the Midwest saying about putting lipstick on a pig.

Farmer Dan didn’t use the Tom Sawyer approach?

I got married on my family’s small farm. In preparation my dad had us paint the side of the fence facing the road, and the side of a shed that faced the ceremony spot. He didn’t count on people walking around to the other side, which they did.

He’s hiding the fact he doesn’t have enough paint.

CLEVER FARMER!

If a farm is close enough and the sheds are visible from a main road, an advertizing firm will be there soon enough and not only paint the side and the whole shed, but also pay rental fee to advertize on the sides facing the road. Sometimes the farmer gave the rental of that side to the children for spending money, because the children were the ones who had to keep up the site around that sign clean from wind swept garbage.

Why can’t you enjoy the humor? Classic….if the object is to satisfy the neighbors AND there is not enough paint for a complete paint job, and buying more paint isn’t in the immediate future…well…?

I guess Canada didn’t have advertisers who would paint farmer’s barns for them like they did in the U.S.

Witness: The house is blue.

Fair Witness: The side of the house visible from my position was blue at the time I observed it.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fair%20Witness

My Dad had me do that once. The next summer I painted the rest of building.