Frazz by Jef Mallett for November 17, 2020

(rim shot)

Nice word play, Miss Plainwell.

A gag only Great Lakes states folks would get…but still funny.

In my dialect ‘witch’ and ‘which’ have very distinct pronunciations though phonetically, it should be spelled ‘hwich’. On the other hand ‘Mary’, ‘marry’ and ‘merry’ sound exactly the same (to me anyway).

“And the Mariners All Know When the Witch of November comes stealing”

As we say in Hawaii, what’s a cold front? (smirk)

“Superior they say neve gived her dead when the Gales of November Come Early.” Gordon Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”

Definitely witch time in November. I woke up to snow on the ground this morning.

“Any of the five”? I thought he mentioned only two names, plus “something”.

Like Mariners, cyclists can tell tales of November gales, with gusts so strong they pick up gravel from the road.

Wikipedia says, “ The Great Lakes have been observed to help intensify storms, such as Hurricane Hazel in 1954, and the 2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, which moved onshore as a tornadic waterspout. In 1996 a rare tropical or subtropical storm was observed forming in Lake Huron, dubbed the 1996 Lake Huron cyclone.”

“G.L.” stands for both Great Lakes and Gordon Lightfoot.

November 10, 1975.

Where is Robin Hood with his song lyrics? “Lake Superior, it’s said, never gives up her dead, when the gales of November come early.”

“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on downOf the big lake they called Gitche GumeeSuperior, they said, never gives up her deadWhen the gales of November come early”.

In another 10 years he’ll be going to Fitzgerald’s bar to get wrecked…

Most legends and myths are bases on a truth. The embellishments and variations make life much more interesting.

Today is Gordon Lightfoot’s 82nd birthday.

It’s also exactly one week past the 45th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (November 10, 1975).

Man, I love this strip and its devoted followers.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the gales of November come early

See, if you had researched properly, using old Gordy’s Summertime Dream instead of those dusty old books, you’d know what it’s called.

I lived in Minnesota for a few years and had a cousin in law who had a side gig taking art photos of storms on the Lakes. So he would be out there with a really nice camera trying to keep water off the lens taking pictures of giant waves or swirling clouds or whatever. He did get a couple of amazing shots that I remember which won some local photo contests.

“Which” of the five lakes…The storm is called the “Witch of November” and it’s the storm that sank the Edmond Fitzgerald.

Annnnnd now that song’s stuck in my head for the rest of the day. ;-)

“Superior, it’s said, never gives up her dead when the Witch of November comes early”

Clever wordplay.

How timely. They had some mighty weather up there this week. Some guy was kayaking through his Buffalo neighborhood Sunday evening when those winds brought the lake into town.

Puns from Pastis and Mallett? We’re being hammered here.

I believe Jef’s grandmother used to teach in a new high school on the shore of Lake Michigan,,,,thus Frazz’s familiarity with the ‘Lakes’

Lake Michigan is nothing to take lightly, and the other three have their moments; but none of them compare with Lake Superior.

Does this seem like a rather advanced topic for a first grader?