Pickles by Brian Crane for January 28, 2024

We have NEVER seen this side of Earl. If they reversed the roles it would seem more normal.

This fails miserably at my house. Spouse seems to TRY to tell me what she wants but she’s very bad at translating to “engineer”… and I’m very bad at intuiting what she’s talking about unless it includes at least MOST of the salient points. We’re both also starting to confuse right with left. Also we’re both going deaf. We’re not QUITE to the point of handing each other notes, but it could become necessary any day now.

Opal: “I am Groot?”

Earl: “I am Groot.”

Opal: “I am Groot?”

Earl: “I am Groot.”

Opal: “I am Groot?”

Earl: “I am Groot.”

Opal: “I am Groot!”

My late Wife hated when I would say what she was going to say next. Miss that….

Love Earl’s expression.

Truly, they ARE an old married couple, and act like it.

My old father would do the opposite. He would start a question in his head, and then finish it out loud — leaving us to figure what he meant. He would get mad when we hesitated in answering him, as we struggled to backtrack from the final clues.

What is that look Earl has in the final panel?

Brian Cane, have fun at the “Cowboy Poetry Gathering, NationalLast week in JanuaryThe National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is a celebration of the old tradition of cowboy poetry—and of other cowboy art—in the buckaroo town of Elko, Nev.Poetry by cowboys has a long history; cowboys traditionally recited poetry as they rode on cattle drives, but it was a private, little-known custom. A poem by Allen McCanless published in 1885 has these lines:My ceiling the sky, my carpet the grass,My music the lowing of herds as they passMy books are the brooks, my sermons the stones,My parson’s a wolf on a pulpit of bones…The gathering, which began in 1985 with about 50 working cowboys, has become a six-day affair that now includes folk-music concerts, western dances, exhibits of cowboy gear, and workshops not only on writing but also on such topics as horse-hair braiding and photography. In 1992, the Hispanic vaquero (cowboy) was honored with performances and exhibits. Poetry remains the heart of the festival, and the poets—all working ranch people—include men, women, and children as young as six or eight. The poetry includes doggerel and limericks, but is mostly in ballad form with narratives like those of Rudyard Kipling’s.” The Free Dictionary

We used to be like that when we were young, now we’re lucky to remember what we started saying, let alone finish our own sentences without a long pause. Life can be cruel at times.

The other day I knew my wife was going to ask me something. Before she could speak I just said, “Yes and Yes”. She just said. “Thank you, sweetie”.

I am not Groot. I need complete sentences.

“… ever graduate from Beautician School?”

For once Earl is on top of things.

Note Earl…………attaboy Earl!

That’s about ….

Earl’s imitating Roscoe’s laugh.

They say that as couples age, our brain wavelengths become more synchronized. This is sure true in our house!

How did Sylvia end up with a normal sized nose?

She NAGS him and repeats herself SO MUCH that it’s embedded in his BRAIN.!!!

After 40-50 years a couple can read each other minds….

I was about five when my parents had a very similar conversation. Mum said I started jumping up and down, shouting, “What’d he say? What’d he SAY!”

It’s been a family line ever since.

When you’ve been married as long as them, you tend to finish each other’s sentences.